Doubts are more cruel than the worst of truths.
I want to be distinguished from the rest; to tell the truth, a friend to all mankind is not a friend for me.
Esteem must be founded on preference: to hold everyone in high esteem is to esteem nothing.
All the satires of the stage should be viewed without discomfort. They are public mirrors, where we are never to admit that we seeourselves; one admits to a fault when one is scandalized by its censure.
It is the public scandal that offends; to sin in secret is no sin at all.
One should eat to live, not live to eat.