A reformer should be exempt from the suspicion of interest, and he must possess the confidence and esteem of those whom he proposes to reclaim.

The love of spectacles was the taste, or rather passion, of the Syrians: the most skilful artists were procured form the adjacent cities; a considerable share of the revenue was devoted to the public amusements; and the magnificence of the games of the theatre and circus was considered as the happiness, and as the glory, of Antioch.

Since the primitive times, the wealth of the popes was exposed to envy, their powers to opposition, and their persons to violence.

The best and most important part of every man's education is that which he gives himself.

From the paths of blood (and such is the history of nations) I cannot refuse to turn aside to gather some flowers of science or virtue.

It is the common calamity of old age to lose whatever might have rendered it desirable.

The pains and pleasures of the body, howsoever important to ourselves, are an indelicate subject of conversation