We hang the petty thieves and appoint the great ones to public office.

Those who return evil for good should not expect the kindness of others to last long.

A man is known by the company he keeps

He is not to be trusted as a friend who illtreats his own family.

The desire for imaginary benefits often involves the loss of present blessings.

If you choose bad companions, no one will believe that you are anything but bad yourself.

Better be wise by the misfortunes of others than by your own.

No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted.

It is easy to be brave from a safe distance.

The smaller the mind the greater the conceit.

The grateful heart will always find opportunities to show its gratitude.

There is no fate more distressing for an artist than to have to show himself off before fools, to see his work exposed to the criticism of the vulgar and ignorant.

You have but to hold forth in cap and gown, and any gibberish becomes learning, all nonsense passes for sense.

Words and deeds are far from being one. Much that is talked about is left undone.

Don't appear so scholarly, pray. Humanize your talk, and speak to be understood.

How easy love makes fools of us.

Doubts are more cruel than the worst of truths.

The more we love our friends, the less we flatter them; it is by excusing nothing that pure love shows itself.

Folk whose own behavior is most ridiculous are always to the fore in slandering others.