Beauty is an outward gift which is seldom despised, except by those to whom it has been refused.

The winds and the waves are always on the side of the ablest navigators.

I understand by this passion the union of desire, friendship, and tenderness, which is inflamed by a single female, which prefers her to the rest of her sex, and which seeks her possession as the supreme or the sole happiness of our being.

Our work is the presentation of our capabilities.

I never make the mistake of arguing with people for whose opinions I have no respect.

But the power of instruction is seldom of much efficacy, except in those happy dispositions where it is almost superfluous.