Friendship is the highest degree of perfection in society.

There is no man so good, who, were he to submit all his thoughts and actions to the laws, would not deserve hanging ten times in his life.

I determine nothing; I do not comprehend things; I suspend judgment; I examine.

My opinion is that we must lend ourselves to others and give ourselves only to ourselves. If my will happened to be prone to mortgage and attach itself, I would not last: I am too tender, both by nature and by practice.

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.

The confidence in another man's virtue is no light evidence of a man's own, and God willingly favors such a confidence.

Friendship is a creature formed for a companionship not for a herd.