If you run after wit, you will succeed in catching folly.

The alms given to a naked man in the street do not fulfil the obligations of the state, which owes to every citizen a certain subsistence, a proper nourishment, convenient clothing, and a kind of life not incompatible with health.

Law should be like death, which spares no one.

The law of nations is naturally founded on this principle, that different nations ought in time of peace to do one another all the good they can, and in time of war as little injury as possible, without prejudicing their real interests.

It is rare to find learned men who are clean, do not stink and have a sense of humour.

Talent is a gift which God has given us secretly, and which we reveal without perceiving it.

There is something in animals beside the power of motion. They are not machines; they feel.