Whatever is preached to us, and whatever we learn, we should still remember that it is man that gives, and man that receives; it is a mortal hand that presents it to us, it is a mortal hand that accepts it.

To make a crooked stick straight, we bend it the contrary way.

If my mind could gain a firm footing, I would not make essays, I would make decisions; but it is always in apprenticeship and on trial.

Wisdom is a solid and entire building, of which every piece keeps its place and bears its mark.

Any person of honor chooses rather to lose his honor than to lose his conscience.

Praise is always pleasing, let it come from whom, or upon what account it will.

Human understanding is marvellously enlightened by daily conversation with men, for we are, otherwise, compressed and heaped up in ourselves, and have our sight limited to the length of our own noses.