one who makes no mistakes makes nothing

As for myself, I always willingly acknowledge my own self as the principal cause of every good and of every evil which may befall me; therefore, I have always found myself capable of being my own pupil, and ready to love my teacher.

I have loved women even to madness, but I have always loved liberty better.

Man is free; but not unless he believes he is[.]

Hope is nothing but a deceitful flatterer accepted by reason only because it is often in need of palliatives.

The man who forgets does not forgive, he only loses the remembrance; forgiveness is the offspring of a noble heart, of a generous mind, whilst forgetfulness is only the result of a weak memory, or of an easy carelessness.

There is no such thing as destiny. We ourselves shape our lives.