Persons of slender intellectual stamina dread competition, as dwarfs are afraid of being run over in the street.

Our energy is in proportion to the resistance it meets.

No wise man can have a contempt for the prejudices of others; and he should even stand in a certain awe of his own, as if they were aged parents and monitors. They may in the end prove wiser than he.

Genius, like humanity, rusts for want of use.

Mankind are a herd of knaves and fools. It is necessary to join the crowd, or get out of their way, in order not to be trampled to death by them.

True friendship is self-love at second-hand.

The most insignificant people are the most apt to sneer at others. They are safe from reprisals. And have no hope of rising in their own self esteem but by lowering their neighbors.