"The greatest evil which fortune can inflict on men is to endow them with small talents and great ambition."

"The law cannot equalize mankind in spite of nature."

"One promises much, to avoid giving little."

"The art of pleasing is the art of deception."

"Our failings sometimes bind us to one another as closely as could virtue itself."

"Lazy people are always anxious to be doing something."

"To possess taste, one must have some soul."

"If people did not compliment one another there would be little society."

"The greatest achievement of the human spirit is to live up to one's opportunities and make the most of one's resources."

"Men sometimes feel injured by praise because it assigns a limit to their merit; few people are modest enough not to take offense that one appreciates them."

"Clarity is the counterbalance of profound thoughts."

"When a thought is too weak to be expressed simply, it should be rejected."

"Wicked people are always surprised to find ability in those that are good."

"Vice stirs up war, virtue fights."

"You must rouse into people's consciousness their own prudence and strength, if you want to raise their character."

"The idle always have a mind to do something."

"We should expect the best and the worst of mankind, as from the weather."

"The most absurd and reckless aspirations have sometimes led to extraordinary success."

"Emotions have taught mankind to reason."

"There is nothing that fear and hope does not permit men to do."

"You are not born for fame if you don't know the value of time."

"Great thoughts always come from the heart."

"All grand thoughts come from the heart."