There is no praise to bear the sort that you put in your pocket.
There is no fate more distressing for an artist than to have to show himself off before fools, to see his work exposed to the criticism of the vulgar and ignorant.
Hypocrisy is a fashionable vice, and all fashionable vices pass for virtue.
I want to be distinguished from the rest; to tell the truth, a friend to all mankind is not a friend for me.
It is a folly second to none; to try to improve the world.
Esteem must be founded on some sort of preference. Bestow it on everybody and it ceases to have any meaning at all.