Those who are incapable of shining out by dress would do well to consider that the contrast between them and their clothes turns out much to their disadvantage.

A large retinue upon a small income, like a large cascade upon a small stream, tends to discover its tenuity.

Some men are called sagacious, merely on account of their avarice; whereas a child can clench its fist the moment it is born.

Deference often shrinks and withers as much upon the approach of intimacy as the sensitive plant does upon the touch of one's finger.

Let us be careful to distinguish modesty, which is ever amiable, from reserve, which is only prudent.

Some men use no other means to acquire respect than by insisting on it; and it sometimes answers their purpose, as it does a highwayman's in regard to money.

Learning, like money, may be of so base a coin as to be utterly void of use.