“A man is in general better pleased when he has a good dinner upon his table, than when his wife talks Greek.”
“Nobody can write the life of a man but those who have eat and drunk and lived in social intercourse with him.”
“I would be loath to speak ill of any person who I do not know deserves it, but I am afraid he is an attorney.”
“Few things are impossible to diligence and skill. Great works are performed not by strength, but perseverance.”
“Count on it, if a person talks of their misfortune, there is something in it that is not disagreeable to them.”
“Dictionaries are like watches; the worst is better than none, and the best cannot be expected to be quite true.”
“Nothing flatters a man as much as the happiness of his wife; he is always proud of himself as the source of it.”
“He that is already corrupt is naturally suspicious, and he that becomes suspicious will quickly become corrupt.”
“Some desire is necessary to keep life in motion, and he whose real wants are supplied must admit those of fancy.”
“Depend upon it that if a man talks of his misfortunes there is something in them that is not disagreeable to him.”
“It matters not how a man dies, but how he lives. The act of dying is not of importance, it lasts so short a time.”
“There is nothing which has yet been contrived by man, by which so much happiness is produced as by a good tavern.”
“Pleasure is very seldom found where it is sought. Our brightest blazes are commonly kindled by unexpected sparks.”
“A fly, Sir, may sting a stately horse and make him wince; but one is but an insect, and the other is a horse still.”
“If I have said something to hurt a man once, I shall not get the better of this by saying many things to please him.”
“I had rather see the portrait of a dog that I know, than all the allegorical paintings they can show me in the world.”
“There are some sluggish men who are improved by drinking; as there are fruits that are not good until they are rotten.”
“Nature makes us poor only when we want necessaries, but custom gives the name of poverty to the want of superfluities.”
“If he really thinks there is no distinction between vice and virtue, when he leaves our houses let us count our spoons.”
“The happiest conversation is that of which nothing is distinctly remembered but a general effect of pleasing impression.”
“Go into the street, and give one man a lecture on morality, and another a shilling, and see which will respect you most.”
“One cause, which is not always observed, of the insufficiency of riches, is that they very seldom make their owner rich.”
“There is nothing so much seduces reason from vigilance as the thought of passing life with an amiable woman in marriage.”
“It is wonderful when a calculation is made, how little the mind is actually employed in the discharge of any profession.”
“That observation which is called knowledge of the world will be found much more frequently to make men cunning than good.”
“Adversity is the state in which man mostly easily becomes acquainted with himself, being especially free of admirers then.”
“I am sorry I have not learnt to play at cards. It is very useful in life: it generates kindness, and consolidates society.”
“Excellence in any department can be attained only by the labor of a lifetime; it is not to be purchased at a lesser price.”
“There is, indeed, nothing that so much seduces reason from vigilance, as the thought of passing life with an amiable woman.”
“What provokes your risibility, Sir? Have I said anything that you understand? Then I ask pardon of the rest of the company.”