The human face is a weak guarantee; yet it deserves some consideration. And if I had to whip the wicked, I would do so more severely to those who belied and betrayed the promises that nature had implanted on their brows; I would punish malice more harshly when it was hidden under a kindly appearance.

I see this evident, that we willingly accord to piety only the services that flatter our passions.

God sends the cold according to the coat.

Speech belongs half to the speaker, half to the listener. The latter must prepare to receive it according to the motion it takes.

No wind favors he who has no destined port.

And one might therefore say of me that in this book I have only made up a bunch of other people's flowers, and that of my own I have only provided the string that ties them together.

Nature is a gentle guide, but not more sweet and gentle than prudent and just.