Perfection is immutable. But for things imperfect change is the way to perfect them. It gets the name of wilfulness when it will not admit of a lawful change to the better. Therefore constancy without knowledge cannot be always good. In things ill it is not virtue, but an absolute vice.

Contemplation is necessary to generate an object, but action must propagate it.

There is no belittling worse than to over praise a man.

We pick our own sorrows out of the joys of other men, and from their sorrows likewise we derive our joys.

It is a most unhappy state to be at a distance with God: man needs no greater infelicity than to be left to himself.

Take heed of a speedy professing friend; love is never lasting which flames before it burns.

Knowledge is the treasure of the mind, but discretion is the key to it, without which it is useless. The practical part of wisdom is the best.