I inherited a vile melancholy from my father, which has made me mad all my life, at least not sober.

Self-love is a busy prompter.

Sir, he throws away his money without thought and without merit. I do not call a tree generous that sheds its fruit at every breeze.

The king who makes war on his enemies tenderly distresses his subjects most cruelly.

The true measure of a man is how he treats someone who can do him absolutely no good.

Misery is caused for the most part, not by a heavy crush of disaster, but by the corrosion of less visible evils, which canker enjoyment, and undermine security. The visit of an invader is necessarily rare, but domestic animosities allow no cessation.

There is not, perhaps, to a mind well instructed, a more painful occurrence, than the death of one we have injured without reparation.