Man is the only animal that laughs and weeps; for he is the only animal that is struck with the difference between what things are, and what they ought to be.

I'm not smart, but I like to observe. Millions saw the apple fall, but Newton was the one who asked why.

Nothing is more unjust or capricious than public opinion.

Pure good soon grows insipid, wants variety and spirit. Pain is a bittersweet, which never surfeits. Love turns, with a little indulgence, to indifference or disgust. Hatred alone is immortal.

Humour is the describing the ludicrous as it is in itself; wit is the exposing it, by comparing or contrasting it with something else. Humour is, as it were, the growth of nature and accident; wit is the product of art and fancy.

Life is the art of being well deceived; and in order that the deception may succeed it must be habitual and uninterrupted.

The definition of genius is that it acts unconsciously, and those who have produced immortal works have done so without knowing how or why.