The surest hindrance of success is to have too high a standard of refinement in our own minds, or too high an opinion of the judgment of the public. He who is determined not to be satisfied with anything short of perfection will never do anything to please himself or others.

Silence is one great art of conversation. He is not a fool who knows when to hold his tongue; and a person may gain credit for sense, eloquence, wit, who merely says nothing to lessen the opinion which others have of these qualities in themselves.

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

The look of a gentleman is little else than the reflection of the looks of the world.

They are, as it were, train-bearers in the pageant of life, and hold a glass up to humanity, frailer than itself. We see ourselves at second-hand in them: they show us all that we are, all that we wish to be, and all that we dread to be. What brings the resemblance nearer is, that, as they imitate us, we, in our turn, imitate them. There is no class of society whom so many persons regard with affection as actors.

The love of letters is the forlorn hope of the man of letters. His ruling passion is the love of fame.

Natural affection is a prejudice; for though we have cause to love our nearest connections better than others, we have no reason to think them better than others.