Magnanimity Is Sufficiently Defined By Its Name,

Of All Our Faults, The One We Avow Most Easily Is Idleness; We Persuade Ourselves That It Is Allied To All The Peaceable Virtues,and As For The Others, That It Does Not Destroy Them Utterly, But Only Suspends The Exercise Of Their Functions.

A Readiness To Believe Ill Of Others, Before We Have Duly Examined It, Is The Effect Of Laziness And Pride. We Are Eager To Find Aculprit, And Loath To Give Ourselves The Trouble Of Examining The Crime.

The Contempt Of Riches In Philosophers Was Only A Hidden Desire To Avenge Their Merit Upon The Injustice Of Fortune, By Despising The Very Goods Of Which Fortune Had Deprived Them; It Was A Secret To Guard Themselves Against The Degradation Of Poverty, It Was A Back Way By Which To Arrive At That Distinction Which They Could Not Gain By Riches.

Envy Is Destroyed By True Friendship, As Coquetry By True Love.

Pity Is Often A Reflection Of Our Own Evils In The Ills Of Others. It Is A Delicate Foresight Of The Troubles Into Which We May Fall.