“The most profound joy has more of gravity than of gaiety in it.”

“My life has been filled with terrible misfortune; most of which never happened.”

“It is only certain that there is nothing certain, and that nothing is more miserable or more proud than man.”

“There is no more expensive thing than a free gift.”

“There is nothing more unsociable than man, and nothing more sociable: unsociable by his vice, sociable by his nature.”

“There is more ado to interpret interpretations than to interpret things, and more books upon books than upon any other subject; we do nothing but comment upon one another. Every place swarms with commentaries; of authors there is great scarcity.”

“I am afraid that our eyes are bigger than our stomachs, and that we have more curiosity than understanding. We grasp at everything, but catch nothing except wind.”