The Catholics had been in the position of oppressors, and the Protestants of the oppressed

Not curiosity, not vanity, not the consideration of expediency, not duty and conscientiousness, but an unquenchable, unhappy thirst that brooks no compromise leads us to truth.

History is not the soil of happiness. The periods of happiness are blank pages in it.

The true courage of civilized nations is readiness for sacrifice in the service of the state, so that the individual counts as only one amongst many. The important thing here is not personal mettle but aligning oneself with the universal.

The learner always begins by finding fault, but the scholar sees the positive merit in everything.

The spirit is never at rest, but always engaged in progressive motion, giving itself new form.

History in general is therefore the development of Spirit in Time, as Nature is the development of the Idea is Space.