I, who am king of the matter I treat, and who owe an accounting for it to no one, do not for all that believe myself in all I write. I often hazard sallies of my mind which I mistrust.

Not being able to govern events, I govern myself.

The utility of living consists not in the length of days, but in the use of time; a man may have lived long, and yet lived but a little.

Business in a certain sort of men is a mark of understanding, and they are honored for it. Their souls seek repose in agitation, as children do by being rocked in a cradle. They may pronounce themselves as serviceable to their friends as troublesome to themselves. No one distributes his money to others, but every one therein distributes his time and his life. There is nothing of which we are so prodigal as of those two things, of which to be thrifty would be both commendable and useful.

A wise man never loses anything, if he has himself.

Marriage is like a cage; one sees the birds outside desperate to get in, and those inside equally desperate to get out.

When we have got it, we want something else.