It is a stupid presumption to go about despising and condemning as false anything that seems to us improbable; this is a common fault in those who think they have more intelligence than the crowd.

The beauty of stature is the only beauty of men.

I leaf through books, I do not study them. What I retain of them is something I no longer recognize as anyone else's.

The desire for riches is more sharpened by their use than by their need. Pleasing all: a mark that can never be aimed at or hit.

A strong memory is commonly coupled with infirm judgment.

Off I go, rummaging about in books for sayings which please me.

Travelling through the world produces a marvellous clarity in the judgment of men. We are all of us confined and enclosed within ourselves, and see no farther than the end of our nose.