To be able to think freely, a man must be certain that no consequence will follow whatever he writes.
Ernest RenanHe whom God has touched will always be a being apart: he is, whatever he may do, a stranger among men; he is marked by a sign.
Ernest RenanA nation has a soul, a spiritual principle. One is in the past, the other in the present. One is the possession of a rich legacy of memories; the other is the desire to live together and to value the common heritage.
Ernest Renan