Nothing is more silly than the pleasure some people take in "speaking their minds." A man of this make will say a rude thing for the mere pleasure of saying it, when an opposite behavior, full as innocent, might have preserved his friend, or made his fortune.

I cannot think of any character below the flatterer, except he who envies him

Violins are the lively, forward, importunate wits, that distinguish themselves by the flourishes of imagination, sharpness of repartee, glances of satire, and bear away the upper part in every consort.

A modest person seldom fails to gain the goodwill of those he converses with, because nobody envies a man who does not appear to be pleased with himself.

Nothing can atone for the lack of modesty; without which beauty is ungraceful and wit detestable.

Fire and swords are slow engines of destruction, compared to the tongue of a Gossip.

Age in a virtuous person, of either sex, carries in it an authority which makes it preferable to all the pleasures of youth.