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

I must accommodate my history to the hour: I may presently change, not only by fortune, but also by intention.

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.

I have often seen people uncivil by too much civility, and tiresome in their courtesy.

He who does not live in some degree for others, hardly lives for himself.

Painting myself for others, I have painted my inward self with colors clearer than my original ones. I have no more made my book than my book has made me--a book consubstantial with its author, concerned with my own self, an integral part of my life; not concerned with some third-hand, extraneous purpose, like all other books.

A man must live in the world and make the best of it, such as it is.