No law can be sacred to me but that of my nature.

Tobacco, coffee, alcohol, hashish, prussic acid, strychnine, are weak dilutions; the surest poison is time. This cup which nature puts to our lips, has a wonderful virtue, surpassing that of any other draught. It opens the senses, adds power, fills us with exalted dreams, which we call hope, love, ambition, science; especially it creates a craving for larger draughts of itself.

The only compensation which war offers for its manifold mischiefs, is in the great personal qualities to which it gives scope and occasion.

No change of circumstances can repair a defect of character.

Envy is the tax which all distinction must pay.

The person who screams, or uses the superlative degree, or converses with heat puts whole drawing-rooms to flight. If you wish to be loved, love measure.

Keep the town for occasions, but the habits should be formed in retirement.