People who have no weaknesses are terrible; there is no way of taking advantage of them.

The Arab who built himself a hut with marbles from the temple of Palmyra is more philosophical than all the curators of the museums of London, Paris, and Munich.

Lovers who love truly do not write down their happiness.

The first virtue of all really great men is that they are sincere. They eradicate hypocrisy from their hearts.

A people living under the perpetual menace of war and invasion is very easy to govern. It demands no social reform. It does not haggle over expenditures for armaments and military equipment. It pays without discussion, it ruins itself, and that is an excellent thing for the syndicates of financiers and manufacturers for whom patriotic terrors are an abundant source of gain.

The average man does not know what to do with this life, yet wants another one which will last forever.

That child whose mother has never smiled upon him is worthy neither of the table of the gods nor the couch of the goddesses.