Quotes of All Topics . Occasions . Authors
Amongst such as out of cunning hear all and talk little, be sure to talk less; or if you must talk, say little.
Among some people arrogance supplies the place of grandeur, inhumanity of decision, and roguery of intelligence.
Avoid lawsuits beyond all things; they pervert your conscience, impair your health, and dissipate your property.
As riches and honor forsake a man, we discover him to be a fool, but nobody could find it out in his prosperity.
Friendship * * * is a long time in forming, it is of slow growth, through many trials and months of familiarity.
A woman with eyes only for one person, or with eyes always averted from him, creates exactly the same impression.
We ought not to make those people our enemies who might have become our friends, if we had only known them better.
The highest reach of a news-writer is an empty Reasoning on Policy, and vain Conjectures on the public Management.
Praise, of all things, is the most powerful excitement to commendable actions, and animates us in our enterprises.
It is often easier as well as more advantageous to conform to other men's opinions than to bring them over to ours.
There are only two ways by which to rise in this world, either by one's own industry or by the stupidity of others.
Women become attached to men by the intimacies they grant them; men are cured of their love by the same intimacies.
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 must be completely wanting in intelligence if he does not show it when actuated by love, malice, or necessity.
Nothing is easier for passion than to overcome reason, but the greatest triumph is to conquer a man's own interests.
There are certain things in which mediocrity is not to be endured, such as poetry, music, painting, public speaking.
Men are the cause of women not loving one another. [Fr., Les hommes sont la cause que les femmes ne s'aiment point.]
There is what is called the highway to posts and honor, and there is a cross and by way, which is much the shortest.
Women are at little trouble to express what they do not feel; but men are still at less to express what they do feel.
Rarely do they appear great before their valets. [Fr., Rarement ils sont grands vis-a-vis de leur valets-de-chambre.]
A man of moderate Understanding, thinks he writes divinely: A man of good Understanding, thinks he writes reasonably.
As long as men are liable to die and are desirous to live, a physician will be made fun of, but he will be well paid.
A man who has schemed for some time can no longer do without it; all other ways of living are to him dull and insipid.
There are some men who turn a deaf ear to reason and good advice, and willfully go wrong for fear of being controlled.
A guilty man is punished as an example for the mob; an innocent man convicted is the business of every honest citizen.
It is virtue which should determine us in the choice of our friends, without inquiring into their good or evil fortune.
To make a book is as much a trade as to make a clock; something more than intelligence is required to become an author.
The nearer we come to great men the more clearly we see that they are only men. They rarely seem great to their valets.
A fool is one whom simpletons believe to be a man on merit. [Fr., Un fat celui que les sots croient un homme de merite.]
As favor and riches forsake a man, we discover in him the foolishness they concealed, and which no one perceived before.
A great mind is above insults, injustice, grief, and raillery, and would be invulnerable were it not open to compassion.
The same amount of pride which makes a man treat haughtily his inferiors, makes him cringe servilely; to those above him.
A lovely countenance is the fairest of all sights, and the sweetest harmony is the sound of the voice of her whom we love.
The shortest and best way to make your fortune is to let people see clearly that it is in their interest to promote yours.
One should never risk a joke, even of the mildest and most unexceptional charters, except among people of culture and wit.
In all conditions of life a poor man is a near neighbor to an honest one, and a rich man is as little removed from a knave.
The same common sense which makes an author write good things, makes him dread they are not good enough to deserve reading.
If our life is unhappy it is painful to bear; if it is happy it is horrible to lose, So the one is pretty equal to the other.
All the world says of a coxcomb that he is a coxcomb; but no one dares to say so to his face, and he dies without knowing it.
It is weakness which makes us hate an enemy and seek revenge, and it is idleness that pacifies us and causes us to neglect it.
The punishment of a criminal is an example to the rabble; but every decent man is concerned if an innocent person is condemned.
There is nothing which continues longer than a moderate fortune; nothing of which one sees sooner the end than a large fortune.
We should only endeavour to think and speak correctly ourselves, without wishing to bring others over to our taste and opinions.
A slave has but one master; an ambitious man has as many masters as there are people who may be useful in bettering his position.
Even the best intentioned of great men need a few scoundrels around them; there are some things you cannot ask an honest ma to do.
A faithless woman, if known to be such by the person concerned, is but faithless; if she is believed faithful, she is treacherous.
Everything has been said, and we have come too late, now that men have been living and thinking for seven thousand years and more.
The pleasure a man of honor enjoys in the consciousness of having performed his duty is a reward he pays himself for all his pains.
There is not in the world so toilsome a trade as the pursuit of fame; life concludes before you have so much as sketched your work.
Even the best intentioned of great men need a few scoundrels around them; there are some things you cannot ask an honest man to do.