John Antoine Petit-Senn

What we gain by experience is not worth that we lose in illusion.

There are wounds of self-love which one does not confess to one's dearest friends.

The wisest man may always learn something from the humblest peasant.

The weak-minded man is the slave of his vices and the dupe of his virtues.

The true worth of a soul is revealed as much by the motive it attributes to the actions of others as by its own deeds.

The less power a man has, the more he likes to use it.

The hatred we bear our enemies injures their happiness less than our own.

The most exacting jailer is our own conscience.

The happiness of the tender heart is increased by what it can take away from the wretchedness of others.

That experience which does not make us better makes us worse.

Religion is the hospital of the souls that the world has wounded.

Promises retain men better than services; for hope is to them a chain, and gratitude a thread.

Pleasure limps for him. who enjoys it alone.

Our virtues live upon our incomes; our vices consume our capital.

Our interests are grains of opium to our consciences, but they only put it to sleep for a terrible awakening.

Money dishonestly acquired is never worth its cost, while a good conscience never costs as much as it is worth.

Loud indignation against vice often stands for virtue with bigots.

t is only before those who are glad to hear it, and anxious to spread it, that we find it easy to speak ill of others.

It is easy to be virtuous in prospective.

In a better world we will find our young years and our old friends.

Happiness is where we find it, but very rarely where we seek it.

Envy, like flame, blackens that which is above it, and which it cannot reach.

Doubt springs from the mind; faith is the daughter of the soul.

Conscience serves us especially to judge of the actions of others.

Adversity, which makes us indulgent to others, renders them severe towards us.