Men throw themselves on foreign assistances to spare their own, which, after all, are the only certain and sufficient ones.

There is not much less vexation in the government of a private family than in the managing of an entire state.

One may disavow and disclaim vices that surprise us and whereto our passions transport us. But those which by long habit are rooted in a strong and anchored in a powerful will are not subject to contradiction. Repentance is but a denying of our will, and an opposition of our fantasies, which diverts us here and there.

Fame and tranquility can never be bedfellows.

No man divulges his revenue, or at least which way it comes in: but every one publishes his acquisitions.

Courtesy, like grace and beauty, that which begets liking and inclination to love one another at the first sight, and in the very beginning of our acquaintance and familiarity; and, consequently, that which first opens the door for us to better ourselves by the example of others, if there be anything in the society worth notice

The laws of conscience, which we pretend to be derived from nature, proceed from Custom.