“Nothing is so contagious as example; and we never do any great good or evil which does not produce its like.”

There are various sorts of curiosity; one is from interest, which makes us desire to know that which may be useful to us; and the other, from pride which comes from the wish to know what others are ignorant of.

It is not enough to have great qualities; We should also have the management of them.

A refusal of praise is a desire to be praised twice.

If it were not for the company of fools, a witty man would often be greatly at a loss.

Mediocre minds usually dismiss anything which reaches beyond their own understanding.

Why is it that our memory is good enough to retain the least triviality that happens to us, and yet not good enough to recollect how often we have told it to the same person?

We would frequently be ashamed of our good deeds if people saw all of the motives that 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.