The most absurd and reckless aspirations have sometimes led to extraordinary success.
Our failings sometimes bind us to one another as closely as could virtue itself.
It is difficult to esteem a man as highly as he would wish.
To possess taste, one must have some soul.
Everyone is born sincere and dies deceivers.
Sometimes a lengthened period of prosperity melts away in a moment; just as the heat of summer flies before a day of tempest.
Hope deceives more men than cunning does.
Give help rather than advice.
One promises much, to avoid giving little.
He who knows how to suffer everything can dare everything.
Those who can bear all can dare all.
The law cannot equalize mankind in spite of nature.
Clearness marks the sincerity of philosophers.
The fool is like those people who think themselves rich with little.
The mind is the soul’s eye, not its source of power. That lies in the heart, in other words, in the passions.
It is a great sign of mediocrity to praise always moderately.
We must expect everything and fear everything from time and from men.
Few maxims are true in every respect.
All men are born truthful and die liars.
The mind reaches great heights only by spurts.