Today as always, men fall into two groups: slaves and free men. Whoever does not have two-thirds of his day for himself, is a slave, whatever he may be: a statesman, a businessman, an official, or a scholar.

From passions grow opinions; intellectual laziness lets these harden into convictions.

The good four. Honest with ourselves and with whatever is friend to us; courageous toward the enemy; generous toward the vanquished; polite-always that is how the four cardinal virtues want us.

Beggars should be entirely abolished! Truly, it is annoying to give to them and annoying not to give to them.

The ascetic makes a necessity of virtue.

No artist will tolerate the world for one second as it is.

The view that honesty is something, and even a virtue, belongs, it is true, to those private opinions which are forbidden in this age of public opinions.