The exterior must be joined to the interior to obtain anything from God, that is to say, we must kneel, pray with the lips, and soon, in order that proud man, who would not submit himself to God, may be now subject to the creature.

Continuous eloquence wearies.

The multitude which does not reduce itself to unity is confusion.

Our senses will not admit anything extreme. Too much noise confuses us, too much light dazzles us, too great distance or nearness prevents vision, too great prolixity or brevity weakens an argument, too much pleasure gives pain, too much accordance annoys.

Happiness can be found neither in ourselves nor in external things, but in God and in ourselves as united to him.

When I have occasionally set myself to consider the different distractions of men, the pains and perils to which they expose themselves I have discovered that all the unhappiness of men arises from one single fact, that they cannot stay quietly in their own chamber.

The art of revolutionizing and overturning states is to undermine established customs, by going back to their origin, in order to mark their want of justice.