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.

Nature should have been pleased to have made this age miserable, without making it also ridiculous.

A man never speaks of himself without losing something. What he says in his disfavor is always beleived, but when he commends himself, he arouses mistrust.

Whatever the Benefits of Fortune are , they yet require a Palate fit to relish and taste them; 'Tis Fruition, and not Possession, that renders us Happy.

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

God defend me from myself.

The good opinion of the vulgar is injurious.