Laurence Sterne

"The key to happiness is to think but little of yourself and much of others."

"There is not perhaps a more valuable character in society than the man who makes a good joke in the right moment."

"The modesty of a woman is like a candlestick; it is the light that enlightens all around her."

"Writing, when properly managed, is but a different name for conversation."

"I wish either my father or my mother had been more mindful of what they were about."

"To understand man, one must study mankind in his books and in his actions."

"The heart of man is so constituted that nothing can satisfy it but the greatest of virtues."

"We are not promised to morrow; therefore, we must make the best of to-day."

"In life, as in writing, a man must know when to end a sentence."

"The greatest discovery of mankind is the discovery of himself."

"A jest without pith is like a body without a soul."

"The art of being happy lies in the art of not bothering one's self with things that do not concern him."

"In truth, a man cannot love well if he does not first love himself."

"The world may be divided into people that read, and people that do not."

"All human excellence consists in two parts: truth and goodness."

"A man can no more do right in going into society, than a book can be right in going into a library."

"Mankind is composed more of follies than wisdom."

"The true art of conversation consists in the effort to make others happy."

"A man of business must be shrewd; a man of philosophy must be truthful."

"Time is the substance I am made of; life is a movement of that substance."

"The strength of the mind is greater than the strength of the body."

"In the kingdom of hope, there is no winter."

"Some things are universal. They are the same in all men and at all times."

"The secret of making one's self agreeable is to know how to converse well."

"A man's dignity lies not in what he possesses, but in what he is."

"The greatest virtue in life is the ability to forgive and move forward."

"Books are the quietest and most constant of friends."

"The purpose of life is not the avoidance of suffering, but its proper understanding."

"To live is to create; to create is to give life meaning."

"The measure of a man is not by the number of his days, but by the quality of his thoughts."