"Most men, like plants, possess hidden qualities..." - Quote by Francois De La Rochefoucauld

“Bravery in simple soldiers is a dangerous trade, to which they have bound themselves to get their livelihood.”

“There is great skill in knowing how to conceal one's skill.”

“Most men expose themselves in battle enough to save their honor, few wish to do so more than sufficiently, or than is necessary to make the design for which they expose themselves succeed.”

“One will rarely err if extreme actions be ascribed to vanity, ordinary actions to habit, and mean actions to fear.”

“You have but little more to do than throw up your cap for entertainment these American days.... Farmers' sons will stare by the hour to see a juggler draw ribbons from his throat, though he tells them it is all deception. Surely, men love darkness rather than light.”

“All human race would be wits. And millions miss, for one that hits.”

“All you are or ever shall become is the result of the use to which you put your mind.”

“It is a beautiful truth that all men contain something of the artist in them. And perhaps it is the case that the greatest artists live and die, the world and themselves alike ignorant what they possess.”

“A youth is to be regarded with respect.”