A well-bred man is always sociable and complaisant.

It is setting a high value upon our opinions to roast men and women alive on account of them.

No one but yourself knows whether you are cowardly and cruel, or loyal and devout; others do not see you; they surmise you by uncertain conjectures; they perceive not so much your nature as your art.

I aim here only at revealing myself, who will perhaps be different tomorrow, if I learn something new which changes me.

It is easier to write an indifferent poem than to understand a good one.

We are more unhappy to see people ahead of us than happy to see people behind us.

We are nearer neighbors to ourselves than the whiteness of snow or the weight of stones are to us: if man does not know himself, how should he know his functions and powers?