Ignorance is the softest pillow on which a man can rest his head.

A man never speaks of himself without losing something. What he says in his disfavor is always beleived, but when he commends himself, he arouses mistrust.

Presumption is our natural and original malady. The most vulnerable and frail of all creatures is man, and at the same time the most arrogant.

To speak less of oneself than what one really is, is folly, not modesty; and to take that for current pay which is under a man's value, is pusillanimity and cowardice.

A man should think less of what he eats and more with whom he eats because no food is so satisfying as good company.

Every man has within himself the entire human condition

Every man bears the whole stamp of the human condition.

I listen with attention to the judgment of all men; but so far as I can remember, I have followed none but my own.

The laws keep up their credit, not by being just, but because they are laws; 'tis the mystic foundation of their authority; they have no other, and it well answers their purpose. They are often made by fools; still oftener by men who, out of hatred to equality, fail in equity; but always by men, vain and irresolute authors.