There is no protection against slander.

People can be induced to swallow anything, provided it is sufficiently seasoned with praise.

How easily a fathers tenderness is recalled, and how quickly a son's offenses vanish at the slightest word of repentance!

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.

I prefer an interesting vice to a virtue that bores.

The less we deserve good fortune, the more we hope for it.

Doubts are more cruel than the worst of truths. It is not only for what we do that we are held responsible, but also for what we do not do. A lover whose passion is extreme loves even the faults of the beloved