1. In this world men must be dealt with according to what they are, and not what they ought to be; and the great art of life is to find out what they are, and act with them accordingly.
2. Up to a certain point riches contribute largely to the happiness of life, but no farther. To be free from the necessity of daily self-denial and continual calculation is indispensable to happiness, but the major luxuries - ostentatious superfluities - contribute little or nothing to rational enjoyment.