When one can do better than everyone else in the same walk, one does not make any very painful exertions to outdo oneself. The progress of improvement ceases nearly at the point where competition ends.

He is a hypocrite who professes what he does not believe; not he who does not practice all he wishes or approves.

Poverty, when it is voluntary, is never despicable, but takes an heroical aspect.

In some situations, if you say nothing, you are called dull; if you talk, you are thought impertinent and arrogant. It is hard to know what to do in this case. The question seems to be, whether your vanity or your prudence predominates.

The greatest reverses of fortune are the most easily borne from a sort of dignity belonging to them.

Hope is the best possession.

We talk little when we do not talk about ourselves.