The best philosophical attitude to adopt towards the world is a union of the sarcasm of gaiety with the indulgence of contempt.

If you must love your neighbor as yourself, it is at least as fair to love yourself as your neighbor.

One can be certain that every generally held idea, every received notion, will be idiocy because it has been able to appeal to the majority

Society would be a charming affair if we were only interested in one another.

It is commonly supposed that the art of pleasing is a wonderful aid in the pursuit of fortune; but the art of being bored is infinitely more successful.

Sometimes apparent resemblance of character will bring two men together and for a certain time unite them. But their mistake gradually becomes evident, and they are astonished to find themselves not only far apart, but even repelled, in some sort, at all their points of contact.

An author is often obscure to the reader because they proceed from the thought to expression than like the reader from the expression to the thought.