There are no uninteresting things, only uninterested people.

Man seems to be capable of great virtues but not of small virtues; capable of defying his torturer but not of keeping his temper.

The disadvantage of men not knowing the past is that they do not know the present.

A nation is not going mad when it does extravagant things, so long as it does them in an extravagant spirit. But whenever we see things done wildly, but taken tamely, then the State is growing insane.

When people impute special vices to the Christian Church, they seem entirely to forget that the world (which is the only other thing there is) has these vices much more. The Church has been cruel; but the world has been much more cruel. The Church has plotted; but the world has plotted much more. The Church has been superstitious; but it has never been so superstitious as the world is when left to itself.

You cannot love a thing without wanting to fight for it.

A small artist is content with art; a great artist is content with nothing except everything.