“To be witty is not enough. One must possess sufficient wit to avoid having too much of it.”

We appreciate frankness from those who like us. Frankness from others is called insolence.

The first recipe for happiness is: avoid too lengthy meditation on the past.

Men and women are not born inconstant: they are made so by their early amorous experiences.

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.

And why do people want peace if the war is so much fun?

I’d probably support it, but I can’t do much.

Because I think that we are less hampered when it comes to ‘this costs too much’ or ‘that’s impossible.’

We often try to quantify it with how much we feel seen and heard.

People love nobody as much as they do their hatred.

I have concluded through careful empirical analysis and much thought that somebody is looking out for me, keeping track of what I think about things, forgiving me when I do less than I ought.

That is much of what I think the writer’s job is – to slow people down.

This is because there is much more risk.