It is a sad thing when men have neither the wit to speak well nor the judgment to hold their tongues

A man of the world must seem to be what he wishes to be thought

Grief that is dazed and speechless is out of fashion: the modern woman mourns her husband loudly and tells you the whole story of his death, which distresses her so much that she forgets not the slightest detail about it

It is fortunate to be of high birth, but it is no less so to be of such character that people do not care to know whether you are or are not.

All men's misfortunes spring from their hatred of being alone

Liberality consists less in giving a great deal than in gifts well-timed

Everything has been said, and we have come too late, now that men have been living and thinking for seven thousand years and more

Out of difficulties grow miracles

No man is so perfect, so necessary to his friends, as to give them no cause to miss him less

Children enjoy the present because they have neither a past nor a future.

One seeks to make the loved one entirely happy, or, if that cannot be, entirely wretched

It requires more than mere genius to be an author

The Opera is obviously the first draft of a fine spectacle; it suggests the idea of one.

The slave has but one master, the ambitious man has as many as there are persons whose aid may contribute to the advancement of his fortunes

Love and friendship exclude each other

Avoid lawsuits beyond all things; they pervert your conscience, impair your health, and dissipate your property.

Logic is the technique by which we add conviction to truth

One should never risk a joke, even of the mildest and most unexceptional charters, except among people of culture and wit

The court is like a palace of marble; it's composed of people very hard and very polished

Modesty is to merit, as shades to figures in a picture, giving it strength and beauty