The works of a person that begin immediately to decay, while those of him who plants begin directly to improve. In this, planting promises a more lasting pleasure than building; which, were it to remain in equal perfection, would at best begin to moulder and want repairs in imagination. Now trees have a circumstance that suits our taste, and that is annual variety.

A man has generally the good or ill qualities which he attributes to mankind.

I know not whether increasing years do not cause us to esteem fewer people and to bear with more.

The lines of poetry, the period of prose, and even the texts of Scripture most frequently recollected and quoted, are those which are felt to be preeminently musical.

The fund of sensible discourse is limited; that of jest and badinerie is infinite.

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

Every good poet includes a critic, but the reverse is not true.