All is wholesome in the absence of excess.

The more we love our friends, the less we flatter them; it is by excusing nothing that pure love shows itself.

We die only once, and for such a long time.

No one is safe from slander. The best way is to pay no attention to it, but live in innocence and let the world talk.

Betrayed and wronged in everything, I’ll flee this bitter world where vice is king, And seek some spot unpeopled and apart Where I’ll be free to have an honest heart. - Molière, The Misanthrope

The more powerful the obstacle, the more glory we have in overcoming it; and the difficulties with which we are met are the maids of honor which set off virtue.

No reason makes it right To shun accepted ways from stubborn spite; And we may better join the foolish crowd Than cling to wisdom, lonely though unbowed.