You are not very good if you are not better than your best friends imagine you to be. Who makes quick use of the moment is a genius of prudence. What do I owe to my times, to my country, to my neighbors, to my friends? Such are the questions which a virtuous man ought often to ask himself. There are many kinds of smiles, each having a distinct character. Some announce goodness and sweetness, others betray sarcasm, bitterness and pride; some soften the countenance by their languishing tenderness, others brighten by their spiritual vivacity. The prudent see only the difficulties, the bold only the advantages, of a great enterprise; the hero sees both; diminishes the former and makes the latter preponderate, and so conquers. He, who cannot forgive a trespass of malice to his enemy, has never yet tasted the most sublime enjoyment of love. Call him wise whose actions, words, and steps are all a clear because to a clear why. Beware of him who hates the laugh of a child. Airs of importance are the credentials of impotence. | 
