Women carry a beautiful hand with them to the grave, when a beautiful face has long ago vanished.

It was not reason that besieged Troy; it was not reason that sent forth the Saracen from the desert to conquer the world; that inspired the crusades; that instituted the monastic orders; it was not reason that produced the Jesuits; above all, it was not reason that created the French Revolution. Man is only great when he acts from the passions; never irresistible but when he appeals to the imagination.

The test of political institutions is the condition of the country whose future they regulate.

Expediency is a law of nature. The camel is a wonderful animal, but the desert made the camel.

Nobody should ever look anxious except those who have no anxiety.

I see before me the statue of a celebrated minister, who said that confidence was a plant of slow growth. But I believe, however gradual may be the growth of confidence, that of credit requires still more time to arrive at maturity.

We can know nothing of humankind without knowing something of ourselves. Self-knowledge is the property of those people whose passions have their full play, but who ponder over their results.