Love of reading enables a man to exchange the weary hours, which come to every one, for hours of delight.

If I knew something that would serve my country but would harm mankind, I would never reveal it; for I am a citizen of humanity first and by necessity, and a citizen of France second, and only by accident

Honor sets all the parts of the body politic in motion, and by its very action connects them; thus each individual advances the public good, while he only thinks of promoting his own interest.

In republican governments, men are all equal; equal they are also in despotic governments: in the former, because they are everything; in the latter, because they are nothing.

A good writer does not write as people write, but as he writes.

When the body of the people is possessed of the supreme power, it is called a democracy.

Not to be loved is a misfortune, but it is an insult to be loved no longer.