“We should often feel ashamed of our best actions if the world could see all the motives which produced them.”

It is often laziness and timidity that keep us within our duty while virtue gets all the credit.

If we resist our passions, it is more due to their weakness than our strength.

A true friend is the greatest of all blessings, and that which we take the least care of all to acquire.

There are a great many men valued in society who have nothing to recommend them but serviceable vices.

The defects of the mind, like those of the face, grow worse with age.

When we are in love we often doubt that which we most believe.

If we judge love by most of its effects, it resembles rather hatred than affection.

Old men are fond of giving good advice to console themselves for their inability to give bad examples.

Great souls are not those who have fewer passions and more virtues than others, but only those who have greater designs.

Too great haste to repay an obligation is a kind of ingratitude.

The only thing that should surprise us is that there are still some things that can surprise us.

All the passions make us commit faults; love makes us commit the most ridiculous ones.

In friendship as well as love, ignorance very often contributes more to our happiness than knowledge.

We always love those who admire us, but we do not always love those whom we admire.

If we have not peace within ourselves, it is in vain to seek it from outward sources.

It is easier to be wise for others than for ourselves.

Democracy is talking itself to death. The people do not know what they want; they do not know what is the best for them.

Love received and love given comprise the best form of therapy.

Finding the center of strength within ourselves is in the long run the best contribution we can make to our fellow men. … One person with indigenous inner strength exercises a great calming effect on panic among people around him.

The thinking mind is best controlled by the imagination.

The best luck of all is the luck you make for yourself.

My hair is not really white; it’s kind of grayish, and I don’t like the color. So I make it totally white with Klorane dry shampoo. That is the best thing to do because my hair is always clean.

Even when I went to the playground, I never picked the best players.

Shakespeare was a man who wrote poetry. I’m a man who writes poetry. Why not compare yourself to the best?