Once upon a time people talked about the infallibility of the pope; today it is that of the merchant which they wish to establish.

Who is wiser: the man who plants flowers along life's way or the man who makes it bristle with thorns?

The extension of women's rights is the basic principle of all social progress.

Civilization is a social plague on the planet, and vices are just as necessary to it as is a virus to disease.

Hosts of merchants encumber the cities, and the streets are cluttered with solicitors who swarm without limit or purpose.

Despots prefer the friendship of the dog, who, unjustly mistreated and debased, still loves and serves the man who wronged him.

Certainly in each social period, youth must be made to venerate the dominant absurdities.