Ambition is but avarice on stilts and masked.

• Ambition is but avarice on stilts and masked.
• We talk on principle, but we act on interest.
• People, like nails, lose their effectiveness when they lose direction and begin to bend.
• We must not indulge in unfavorable views of mankind, since by doing it we make bad men believe they are no worse than others, and we teach the good that they are good in vain.
• We are no longer happy as soon as we wish to be happier.
• Kindness in ourselves is the honey that blunts the sting of unkindness in another.
• Heat and animosity, contest and conflict, may sharpen the wits, although they rarely do; they never strengthen the understanding, clear the perspicacity, guide the judgment, or improve the heart.
• Men, like nails, lose their usefulness when they lose direction and begin to bend.