The wit of conversation consists more in finding it in others than in showing a great deal yourself.

Those who make the worst use of their time are the first to complain of its shortness.

The common people have scarcely any culture, the great have no soul. . . . Were I to choose between the two, I should select, without hesitation, being a plebeian.

Most men spend the first half of their lives making the second half miserable.

To make a book is as much a trade as to make a clock; something more than intelligence is required to become an author.

It is the glory and the merit of some men to write well, and of others not to write at all.

The same common sense which makes an author write good things, makes him dread they are not good enough to deserve reading.

A mediocre mind thinks it writes divinely; a good mind thinks it writes reasonably.

If a handsome woman allows that another woman is beautiful, we may safely conclude she excels her.

Impertinent wits are a kind of insect which are in everybody’s way and plentiful in all countries.