Freedom of the press is to the machinery of the state what the safety valve is to the steam engine.

Patriotism is the passion of fools and the most foolish of passions.

Women remain children all their lives, for they always see only what is near at hand, cling to the present, take the appearance of a thing for reality, and prefer trifling matters to the most important.

If at any moment Time stays his hand, it is only when we are delivered over to the miseries of boredom.

The art of not reading is a very important one. It consists in not taking an interest in whatever may be engaging the attention of the general public at any particular time. When some political or ecclesiastical pamphlet, or novel, or poem is making a great commotion, you should remember that he who writes for fools always finds a large public. A precondition for reading good books is not reading bad ones: for life is short.

We forfeit three-quarters of ourselves in order to be like other people.

There are, first of all, two kinds of authors: those who write for the subject's sake, and those who write for writing's sake.