When the reality of power has been surrendered, it's playing a dangerous game to seek to retain the appearance of it; the external aspect of vigor can sometimes support a debilitated body, but most often it manages to deal it the final blow.

Consider any individual at any period of his life, and you will always find him preoccupied with fresh plans to increase his comfort. Do not talk to him about the interests and rights of the human race; that little private business of his for the moment absorbs all his thoughts, and he hopes that public disturbances can be put off to some other time.

When the past no longer illuminates the future, the spirit walks in darkness.

The man who asks of freedom anything other than itself is born to be a slave.

The evil which one suffers patiently as inevitable seems insupportable as soon as he conceives the idea of escaping from it.

The genius of democracies is seen not only in the great number of new words introduced but even more in the new ideas they express.

To commit violent and unjust acts, it is not enough for a government to have the will or even the power; the habits, ideas and passions of the time must lend themselves to their committal.