The superiority of some men is merely local. They are great because their associates are little.

Our senses, our appetite, and our passions are our lawful and faithful guides in things that relate solely to this life.

The equity of Providence has balanced peculiar sufferings with peculiar enjoyments.

He that shall peruse the political pamphlets of any past reign will wonder why they were so eagerly read, or so loudly praised.

The usual fortune of complaint is to excite contempt more than pity.

Of the blessings set before you make your choice, and be content. No man can taste the fruits of autumn while he is delighting his scent with the flowers of the spring: no man can, at the same time, fill his cup from the source and from the mouth of the Nile.

If, sir, men were all virtuous, I should with great alacrity teach them all to fly. But what would be the security of the good if the bad could at pleasure invade them from the sky? Against an army sailing through the clouds neither wall, nor mountains, nor seas could afford any security.