Men of strong minds and who think for themselves, should not be discouraged on finding occasionally that some of their best ideas have been anticipated by former writers; they will neither anathematize others nor despair themselves. They will rather go on discovering things before discovered, until they are rewarded with a land hitherto unknown, an empire indisputably their own, both right of conquest and of discovery.

It is seldom that statesmen have the option of choosing between a good and an evil.

Be real and adjust you strategy according to honest results.

Forgiveness, that noblest of all self-denial, is a virtue which he alone who can practise in himself can willingly believe in another.

Pity a thing often avowed, seldom felt; hatred is a thing often felt, seldom avowed.

As the gout seems privileged to attack the bodies of the wealthy, so ennui seems to exert a similar prerogative over their minds.

Purity lives and derives its life solely from the Spirit of God.