A man must have very eminent qualities to hold his own without being polite.

What can be more discouraging to a man than to doubt if his soul be material, like a stone or a reptile, and subject to corruption like the vilest creatures? And does it not prove much more strength of mind and grandeur to be able to conceive the idea of a Being superior to all other beings, by whom and for whom all things were made ; of a Being absolutely perfect and pure, without beginning or end, of whom our soul is the image, and of whom, if I may say so, it is a part, because it is spiritual and immortal?

A man may have intelligence enough to excel in a particular thing and lecture on it, and yet not have sense enough to know he ought to be silent on some other subject of which he has but a slight knowledge; if such an illustrious man ventures beyond the bounds of his capacity, he loses his way and talks like a fool.

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.

Let us not envy a certain class of men for their enormous riches; they have paid such an equivalent for them that it would not suit us; they have given for them their peace of mind, their health, their honour, and their conscience; this is rather too dear, and there is nothing to be made out of such a bargain.

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 who has schemed for some time can no longer do without it; all other ways of living are to him dull and insipid.

A man must be very inert to have no character at all.

Profound ignorance makes a man dogmatical.