There is no better proof of a man's being truly good than his desiring to be constantly under the observation of good men.

Old men are fond of giving good advice to console themselves for their inability to give bad examples.

Passion makes idiots of the cleverest men, and makes the biggest idiots clever.

Ridicule dishonors a man more than dishonor does.

That good disposition which boasts of being most tender is often stifled by the least urging of self-interest.

No man deserves to be praised for his goodness, who has it not in his power to be wicked. Goodness without that power is generally nothing more than sloth, or an impotence of will.