I like people to be saints; but I want them to be first and superlatively honest men.

A malicious enemy is better than a clumsy friend.

We are amused through the intellect, but it is the heart that saves us from ennui.

As we advance in life the circle of our pains enlarges, while that of our pleasures contracts.

Men do not go out to meet misfortune as we do. They learn it; and we--we divine it.

Truth only is prolific. Error, sterile in itself, produces only by means of the portion of truth which it contains. It may have offspring, but the life which it gives, like that of the hybrid races, cannot be transmitted.

Those who make us happy are always thankful to us for being so; their gratitude is the reward of their benefits.