Books that you may carry to the fire, and hold readily in your hand, are the most useful after all.

Fear naturally quickens the flight of guilt.

The hostility perpetually exercised between one man and another, is caused by the desire of many for that which only few can possess. Every man would be rich, powerful, and famous; yet fame, power, and riches, are only the names of relative conditions, which imply the obscurity, dependence, and poverty of greater numbers.

Men who stand in the highest ranks of society seldom hear of their faults; if by any accident an opprobrious clamour reaches their ears, flattery is always at hand to pour in her opiates, to quiet conviction and obtund remorse.

In all political regulations, good cannot be complete, it can only be predominant.

There are charms made only for distant admiration.

People in distress never think that you feel enough.