No really great man ever thought himself so.

Those who have had none of the cares of this life to harass and disturb them, have been obliged to have recourse to the hopes and fears of the next to vary the prospect before them.

Men are in numberless instances qualified for certain things, for no other reason than because they are qualified for nothing else.

We are never so much disposed to quarrel with others as when we are dissatisfied with ourselves.

A man who does not endeavour to seem more than he is will generally be thought nothing of. We habitually make such large deductions for pretence and imposture that no real merit will stand against them. It is necessary to set off our good qualities with a certain air of plausibility and self-importance, as some attention to fashion is necessary.

It is better to be able neither to read nor write than to be able to do nothing else.

Our friends are generally ready to do everything for us, except the very thing we wish them to do.