"Being a blockhead is sometimes the best security against being cheated by a man of wit."

"Absence diminishes mediocre passions and increases great ones, as the wind extinguishes candles and fans fires."

"A man's worth has its season, like fruit."

"A man is sometimes as different from himself as he is from others."

"We are more often treacherous, through weakness than through calculation."

"We get so much in the habit of wearing disguises before others that we finally appear disguised before ourselves."

"Ridicule dishonors a man more than dishonor does."

"Innocence does not find near so much protection as guilt."

"There is a kind of elevation which does not depend on fortune; it is a certain air which distinguishes us, and seems to destine us for great things; it is a price which we imperceptibly set upon ourselves."

"It's easier to be wise for others than for ourselves."

"What is called generosity is usually only the vanity of giving; we enjoy the vanity more than the thing given."

"What seems to be generosity is often no more than disguised ambition, which overlooks a small interest in order to secure a great one."

"It is great cleverness to know how to conceal our cleverness."

"Nothing so much prevents our being natural as the desire to seem so."

"To establish yourself in the world a person must do all they can to appear already established."

"The sure way to be cheated is to think one's self more cunning than others."

"The intention of never deceiving often exposes us to deception."

"We never desire strongly, what we desire rationally."

"There are ways which lead to everything, and if we have sufficient will we should always have sufficient means."

"When we cannot find contentment in ourselves, it is useless to seek it elsewhere."

"We often forgive those who bore us, but we cannot forgive those whom we bore."

"Conceit causes more conversation than wit."

"Usually we praise only to be praised."

"When we are in love we often doubt that which we most believe."