At the sight of what goes on in the world, the most misanthropic of men must end by being amused, and Heraclitus must die laughing.
Success makes success, like money makes money.
It is said of a lonely man that he does not appreciate the life of society. This is like saying he hates hiking because he dislikes walking in thick forest on a dark night.
In great matters, men behave as they are expected to; in little ones, as they would naturally.
Education must have two foundations – morality as a support for virtue, prudence as a defense for self against the vices of others. By letting the balance incline to the side of morality, you only make dupes or martyrs; by letting it incline to the other, you make calculating egoists.
An author is often obscure to the reader because they proceed from the thought to expression than like the reader from the expression to the thought.
In love, everything is true, everything is false; it is the one subject on which one cannot express an absurdity.
We justly consider women to be weaker than ourselves, and yet we are governed by them.
The best philosophical attitude to adopt towards the world is a union of the sarcasm of gaiety with the indulgence of contempt.
Conscience is a dog that does not stop us from passing but that we cannot prevent from barking.
There is as much expression in the feet as in the hands.
A fool who has a flash of wit creates astonishment and scandal, like hack-horses setting out to gallop.
He who disguises tyranny, protection, or even benefits under the air and name of friendship reminds me of the guilty priest who poisoned the sacramental bread.
Women bestow on friendship only what they borrow from love.
It is among uneducated women that we may look for the most confirmed gossips. Goethe tells us there is nothing more frightful than bustling ignorance.
She commands who is blest with indifference.
To possess a good cognomen is a long way on the road of success in life.
We gild our medicines with sweets; why not clothe truth and morals in peasant garments as well?
Wrinkles and ill-nature together made a woman hideous.
Men’s hearts and faces are always wide asunder; women’s are not only in close connection, but are mirror-like in the instant power of reflection.