Boundless in your charity, but shrewd and cautious as a lender, you delight all those today whom you made beggars the day before.

No shortcomings of other people cause us to be more intolerant than those which are caricatures of our own.

The likeness of the world? A shadow! And world's glory? A dream!

Trying to conceal a crime is like burying a seed in the ground.

Do you think that it is possible to have a mere taste of commonness? Either one hates it or makes common cause with it.

The graceful flowers of innocence are more valuable than the laurel crown of fame.

To enlist the support of the people and of parliament, you only have to propose a profitable villainy.