To how many blockheads of my time has a cold and taciturn demeanor procured the credit of prudence and capacity!

For table-talk, I prefer the pleasant and witty before the learned and the grave; in bed, beauty before goodness.

A strong imagination begetteth opportunity.

If faces were not alike, we could not distinguish men from beasts; if they were not different, we could not tell one man from another.

I never rebel so much against France as not to regard Paris with a friendly eye; she has had my heart since my childhood... I love her tenderly, even to her warts and her spots. I am French only by this great city: the glory of France, and one of the noblest ornaments of the world.

Petty vexations may at times be petty, but still they are vexations. The smallest and most inconsiderable annoyances are the most piercing. As small letters weary the eye most, so the smallest affairs disturb us most.

Obstinacy and heat in argument are surest proofs of folly. Is there anything so stubborn, obstinate, disdainful, contemplative, grave, or serious, as an ass?