"We do not praise others, ordinarily, but..." - Quote by Francois De La Rochefoucauld

“Some people are so extremely whiffling and inconsiderable that they are as far from any real faults as from substantial virtues.”

“The name and pretense of virtue is as serviceable to self-interest as are real vices.”

“There are fine things that are more brilliant when they are unfinished than when finished too much.”

“Praise shames me, for I secretly beg for it.”

“That is very high praise, which is given you by faithful witness.”

“Criticism sometimes is really praise, and praise sometimes slander.”

“The one great principle of the English law is, to make business for itself. There is no other principle distinctly, certainly, and consistently maintained through all its narrow turnings.”

“When we seek reconciliation with our enemies, it is commonly out of a desire to better our own condition, a being harassed and tired out with a state of war, and a fear of some ill accident which we are willing to prevent.”

“If I refuse to allow my leg to be amputated, its mortification and my death may prove that I was wrong; but if I let the leg go, nobody can ever prove that it would not have mortified had I been obstinate. Operation is therefore the safe side for the surgeon as well as the lucrative side.”