Ceremony forbids us to express by words things that are lawful and natural, and we obey it; reason forbids us to do things unlawful and ill, and nobody obeys it.

In plain Truth, it is no Want, but rather Abundance that creates Avarice.

The first lessons with which we should irrigate his mind should be those which teach him to know himself, and to know how to die ... and to live.

We imagine much more appropriately an artisan on his toilet seat or on his wife than a great president, venerable by his demeanorand his ability. It seems to us that they do not stoop from their lofty thrones even to live.

The most fruitful and natural exercise for our minds is, in my opinion, conversation.

Not being able to govern events, I govern myself.

It makes me hate accepting things that are probable when they are held up before me as infallibly true. I prefer these words which tone down and modify the hastiness of our propositions: "Perhaps, In some sort, Some, They say, I think," and the like.