“The important question is not what will yield to man a few scattered pleasures, but what will render his life happy on the whole amount
“It is the privilege of posterity to set matters right between those antagonists who, by their rivalry for greatness, divided a whole age
“Everything that is new or uncommon raises a pleasure in the imagination, because it fills the soul with an agreeable surprise, gratifies its curiosity, and gives it an idea of which it was not before possessed
“Cheerfulness keeps up a kind of daylight in the mind, filling it with a steady and perpetual serenity
“Prejudice and self-sufficiency naturally proceed from inexperience of the world, and ignorance of mankind
“It is folly for an eminent man to think of escaping censure, and a weakness to be affected with it. All the illustrious persons of antiquity, and indeed of every age in the world, have passed through this fiery persecution
“We travel through time as through a country filled with many wild and empty wastes, which we would fain hurry over, that we may arrive at those several little settlements or imaginary points of rest which are dispersed up and down in it
“Tradition is an important help to history, but its statements should be carefully scrutinized before we rely on them
“Let's not forget that the little emotions are the great captains of our lives and we obey them without realising it
“The post office has a great charm at one point of our lives. When you have lived to my age, you will begin to think letters are never worth going through the rain for
“Human nature is so well disposed towards those who are in interesting situations, that a young person, who either marries or dies, is sure of being kindly spoken of
“There are certainly are not so many men of large fortune in the world as there are of pretty woman to deserve them
“Surprises are foolish things. The pleasure is not enhanced, and the inconvenience is often considerable