Some will read only old books, as if there were no valuable truths to be discovered in modern publications: others will only read new books, as if some valuable truths are not among the old. Some will not read a book because they know the author: others . . . would also read the man.

A great city, whose image dwells in the memory of man, is the type of some great idea. Rome represents conquest; Faith hovers over the towers of Jerusalem; and Athens embodies the pre-eminent quality of the antique world, Art.

In politics experiments means revolutions.

Nine-tenths of existing books are nonsense, and the clever books are the refutation of that nonsense.

There is no diplomacy like silence.

Through perseverance many people win success out of what seemed destined to be certain failure.

I believe absence is a great element of charm.