There are three great events in our lives: birth, life and death. Of birth we have no conscience; with death, we suffer; and, concerning life, we forget to live it.
He who knows how to wait for what he desires does not feel very desperate if he fails in obtaining it; and he, on the contrary, who is very impatient in procuring a certain thing, takes so much pains about it, that, even when he is successful, he does not think himself sufficiently rewarded.
Time makes friendship stronger, but love weaker.
A man’s worth is estimated in this world according to his conduct.
A woman with eyes only for one person, or with eyes always averted from him, creates exactly the same impression.
Life is a kind of sleep: old men sleep longest, nor begin to wake but when they are to die.
Extremes are vicious, and proceed from men; compensation is just, and proceeds from God.
It is fortunate to be of high birth, but it is no less so to be of such character that people do not care to know whether you are or are not.
The mind, like all other things, will become impaired, the sciences are its food, – they nourish, but at the same time they consume it.
A man is rich whose income is larger than his expenses, and he is poor if his expenses are greater than his income.
A man who knows how to make good bargains or finds his money increase in his coffers, thinks presently that he has a good deal of brains and is almost fit to be a statesman.
A man of moderate Understanding, thinks he writes divinely: A man of good Understanding, thinks he writes reasonably.
A man starts upon a sudden, takes Pen, Ink, and Paper, and without ever having had a thought of it before, resolves within himself he will write a Book; he has no Talent at Writing, but he wants fifty Guineas.
High birth is a gift of fortune which should never challenge esteem towards those who receive it, since it costs them neither study nor labor.
A blockhead cannot come in, nor go away, nor sit, nor rise, nor stand, like a man of sense.
A lovely countenance is the fairest of all sights, and the sweetest harmony is the sound of the voice of her whom we love.
If you suppress the exorbitant love of pleasure and money, idle curiosity, iniquitous pursuits and wanton mirth, what a stillness would there be in the greatest cities.
Amongst such as out of cunning hear all and talk little, be sure to talk less; or if you must talk, say little.
A great mind is above insults, injustice, grief, and raillery, and would be invulnerable were it not open to compassion.
The great charm of conversation consists less in the display of one’s own wit and intelligence than in the power to draw forth the resources of others.