There are few things that we so unwillingly give up, even in advanced age, as the supposition that we still have the power of ingratiating ourselves with the fair sex.

Man alone is born crying, lives complaining, and dies disappointed.

If a man does not make new acquaintances as he advances through life, he will soon find himself left alone. A man, sir, should keep his friendship in a constant repair.

Poetry is the art of uniting pleasure with truth.

The true art of memory is the art of attention.

There is nothing, Sir, too little for so little a creature as man. It is by studying little things that we attain the great art of having as little misery and as much happiness as possible.

It is dangerous for mortal beauty, or terrestrial virtue, to be examined by too strong a light. The torch of Truth shows much that we cannot, and all that we would not, see.

Dictionaries are like watches, the worst is better than none and the best cannot be expected to go quite true.

The return of my birthday, if I remember it, fills me with thoughts which it seems to be the general care of humanity to escape.

Getting money is not all a man's business: to cultivate kindness is a valuable part of the business of life.