In this country [England] it is good to kill an admiral from time to time, to encourage the others. The reference is to Admiral John Byng, who was executed in 1757 for failing to prevent the French from taking Minorca.

Life is a shipwreck but we must not forget to sing in the lifeboats.

Time, which alone makes the reputation of men, ends by making their defects respectable.

I loved him as we always love the first time: with idolatry and wild passion.

The most important decision you make is to be in a good mood.

We cannot always oblige; but we can always speak obligingly.

He is a hard man who is only just, and a sad one who is only wise.