Don’t show off every day, or you’ll stop surprising people. There must always be some novelty left over. The person who displays a little more of it each day keeps up expectations, and no one ever discovers the limits of his talent.
Luck can be assisted. It is not all chance with the wise.
It requires as much caution to tell the truth as to conceal it.
Hope is a great falsifier. Let good judgment keep her in check.
At twenty a man is a peacock, at thirty a lion, at forty a camel, at fifty a serpent, at sixty a dog, at seventy an ape, at eighty a nothing at all.
You have to appear wiser and more prudent than is required by the people you are dealing with if you want to give a high opinion of yourself.
Display startling novelty-rise afresh like the sun every day. Change too the scene on which you shine, so that you rloss may be felt in the old scenes of your triumph, while the novelty of your powers wins applause in the new.
Nature scarcely ever gives us the very best; for that we must have recourse to art.
Mix a little mystery with everything, for mystery arouses veneration.
Never have a companion that casts you in the shade.
The greatest wisdom often consist in ignorance.
Do not be held a cheat, even though it is impossible to live today without being one. Let your greatest cunning lie in covering up what looks like cunning.
One who was adored by all in prosperity is abhorred by all in adversity.
To be at ease is better than to be at business.
To overvalue something is a form of lying.
Superiority is always detested.
Politeness is the chief sign of culture.
He who laughs at everything is as big a fool as he who weeps at everything.
It is more offensive to outshine in dignity than in personal attractions.
Many get the repute of being witty but thereby lose the credit of being sensible. Jest has its little hour, seriousness should have all the rest.