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.

There are few faces that can afford to smile: a smile is sometimes bewitching, in general vapid, often a contortion.

Coalitions though successful have always found this, that their triumph has been brief.

There is moderation even in excess.

The feeling of satiety, almost inseparable from large possessions, is a surer cause of misery than ungratified desires.

What are the most brilliant of our chymical discoveries compared with the invention of fire and the metals?

An insular country, subject to fogs, and with a powerful middle class, requires grave statesmen.