Have you not observed that faith is generally strongest in those whose character may be called the weakest?
Madame de StaelWhy shouldn't man be as angry about not having always been alive as about having to stop being alive?
Madame de StaelGoethe has made a remark upon the perfectability of the human mind, which is full of sagacity: It is always advancing, but in a spiral line.
Madame de StaelThe study of history, it seems to me, leads to the conviction that all important events tend toward the same end - the civilization of mankind.
Madame de StaelThe sight of such a monument is like continual and stationary music, which one hears for one's good as one approaches it.
Madame de StaelWhatever efforts one may make, one must revert to the realization that religion is the real basis of morality; religion is the real and perceptible purpose within us, which alone, can turn aside our attention from things. ... The science of morality can no more teach human beings to be honest, in all the magnificence of this word, than geometry can teach one how to draw.
Madame de Stael