Politeness does not always inspire goodness, equity, complaisance, and gratitude; it gives at least the appearance of these qualities, and makes man appear outwardly, as he should be within.

The sweetest of all sounds is that of the voice of the woman we love.

No road is to long for him who advances slowly and does not hurry and no attainment is beyond his reach who equips himself with patience to achieve it

Generosity lies less in giving much than in giving at the right moment.

The spendthrift robs his heirs the miser robs himself.

A vain man finds it wise to speak good or ill of himself; a modest man does not talk of himself.

Courtly manners are contagious; they are caught at Versailles.

We are more sociable, and get on better with people by the heart than the intellect.

A prince wants only the pleasure of private life to complete his happiness.

There is as much trickery required to grow rich by a stupid book as there is folly in buying it.

Out of difficulties grow miracles.

Fiction wouldn't be much fun without its fair share of scoundrels, and they have to live somewhere.

it is hard for me to believe that Cornelius Vanderbilt did not sense, at some point in time, in some dim billiard room of his unconscious, that when he built “The Breakers” he damned himself.

Gratitude makes you a better, stronger, wiser person. Ingratitude makes you a negative, angry, miserable person. Which person do you choose to be?

The health of the eye seems to demand a horizon. We are never tired, so long as we can see far enough.

I think Paul Sarbanes and his wife Christine socialized with them [George and Heather Mitchell] more than I did, but we all hung out, or we saw each other in groups.

Long before I wrote stories, I listened for stories.

After you're finished celebrating your 60th birthday, feel free to stop supporting your children, and start supporting your parents!

Someone always needs rescuing, yet there's only one person who ever seems to understand you. It's a lot like being Lassie.

Keeping a diary supports personal development.

He wished he hadn't pulled me from the path of Tyler's van - there was no other conclusion I could come to.