“The most solid happiness can be shaken by the compassion of a fool.”

A contemptuous indifference turns into an enemy a woman who, well treated, might have been an angel.

The true evil is not the weakening of the body, but the indifference of the soul.

The difficult part in an argument is not to defend one’s opinion but rather to know it.

There are certain persons for whom pure Truth is a poison.

People are what you make them. A scornful look turns into a complete fool a man of average intelligence.

Without a family, man, alone in the world, trembles with the cold.

No one can be profoundly original who does not avoid eccentricity.

If you value a man’s regard, strive with him. As to liking, you like your newspaper – and despise it.

Conversation would be vastly improved by the constant use of four simple words: I do not know.

We owe to the Middle Ages the two worst inventions of humanity – romantic love and gunpowder.

Modesty and unselfishness – these are the virtues which men praise – and pass by.

If men could regard the events of their own lives with more open minds, they would frequently discover that they did not really desire the things they failed to obtain.

In literature as in love, we are astonished at what is chosen by others.

A happy marriage is a long conversation which always seems too short.

The really great novel tends to be the exact negative of its author’s life.

Business is a combination of war and sport.