The men of sense, the idols of the shallow, are very inferior to the men of passions. It is the strong passions which, rescuing us from sloth, impart to us that continuous and earnest attention necessary to great intellectual efforts.

Harsh counsels have no effect; they are like hammers which are always repulsed by the anvil.

Truth is a torch which gleams in the fog but does not dispel it.

Discipline is simply the art of making the soldiers fear their officers more than the enemy.

Pleasure and pain are the only springs of action in man, and always will be.

Must we, under the happy hope of a false tranquility, sacrifice to the people in power the public welfare, and under vain pretence of preserving the peace, abandon the empire to robbers who would plunder it

To be loved, we should merit but little esteem; all superiority attracts awe and aversion.