Liberty... is there only when there is no abuse of power.

Those who have few affairs to attend to are great speakers. The less men think, the more they talk.

An empire founded by war has to maintain itself by war.

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

There are bad examples which are worse than crimes; and more states have perished from the violation of morality than from the violation of law.

I like peasants-they are not sophisticated enough to reason speciously.

It is always the adventurers who do great things, not the sovereigns of great empires.