It is with true love as with ghosts and apparitions: Every one talks of it, and scarcely any one has seen it - François de La Rochefoucauld

We should observe the place, the occasion, the temper in which we find the person who listens to us, for if there is much art in speaking to the purpose, there is no less in knowing when to be silent. There is an eloquent silence which serves to approve or to condemn, there is a silence of discretion and of respect. In a word, there is a tone, an air, a manner, which renders everything in conversation agreeable or disagreeable, refined or vulgar.

Natural goodness, which boasts of being so apparent, is often smothered by the least interest.

As we age, we become more foolish and wiser.