There is no nation so powerful, as the one that obeys its laws not from principals of fear or reason, but from passion.

In the infancy of societies, the chiefs of state shape its institutions; later the institutions shape the chiefs of state.

Oh, how empty is praise when it reflects back to its origin!

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

The coffee is prepared in such a way that it makes those who drink it witty: at least there is not a single soul who, on quitting the house, does not believe himself four times wittier that when he entered it.

Fain would I glide down a gentle river, but I am carried away by a torrent.

Certain kinds of foolishness are such that a greater foolishness would be better.