There is nothing that more betrays a base ungenerous spirit than the giving of secret stabs to a man's reputation. Lampoons and satires that are written with wit and spirit are like poisoned darts, which not only inflict a wound, but make it incurable.
There is nothing that more ...
Quotes from the same author
True happiness arises, in the first place, from the enjoyment of oneself, and in the next, from the friendship and conversation of a few select companions.
He only is a great man who can neglect the applause of the multitude and enjoy himself independent of its favor.
Let freedom never perish in your hands.
Young men soon give, and soon forget, affronts; old age is slow in both.
An honest private man often grows cruel and abandoned when converted into an absolute prince. Give a man power of doing what he pleases with impunity, you extinguish his fear, and consequently overturn in him one of the great pillars of morality.