On the path of actions, a great heart is the chief recommendation; on that of works, a great head.
Obstinacy is the result of the will forcing itself into the place of the intellect.
Noise is the most impertinent of all forms of interruption. It is not only an interruption, but also a disruption of thought.
No doubt, when modesty was made a virtue, it was a very advantageous thing for the fools, for everybody is expected to speak of himself as if he were one.
Nature shows that with the growth of intelligence comes increased capacity for pain, and it is only with the highest degree of intelligence that suffering reaches its supreme point.
National character is only another name for the particular form which the littleness, perversity and baseness of mankind take in every country.
Money is human happiness in the abstract: he, then, who is no longer capable of enjoying human happiness in the concrete, devotes his heart entirely to money.
Men are by nature merely indifferent to one another; but women are by nature enemies.
Man can do what he wills but he cannot will what he wills.
Life is short, and truth works far and lives long: let us speak the truth.
Life is a business that does not cover the costs.
It would be a good thing to buy books if one could also buy the time in which to read them.