One man may be more cunning than another man, but he cannot be more cunning than all the world.
Mankind has made a virtue of moderation in order to limit the ambition of great men and to console mediocre people for their scanty fortune and their scanty merit.
We should often be ashamed of our finest actions if the world saw all the motives that produced them.
Our desire to speak of ourselves, and to reveal our defects in the best light in which we can show them, constitutes a great part of our sincerity.
The shame that arises from undeserved praise often leads us to do things which we should not otherwise have attempted.
The labours of the body free us from the pains of the mind. It is this that constitutes the happiness of the poor.
It is more necessary to study men than to study books.
The truly honest man is he who sets no value on himself.
Censorious as the world is, it is oftener favourable to false merit than unjust to true.
It is not enough to possess great qualities; we must know how to use them.