To do what is impossible for talent is the mark of genius.

Are we not all shipwrecked,...condemned to death?... However impatient our neighbours make us, however much indignation our race arouses, we are all bound together, and the companions of a chain-gang have everything to lose by mutual insults.

Sacrifice still exists everywhere, and everywhere the elect of each generation suffers for the salvation of the rest.

Sadness takes up the pen more readily than joy.

Work while you have the light. You are responsible for the talent that has been entrusted to you.

Action and faith enslave thought, both of them in order not be troubled or inconvenienced by reflection, criticism, and doubt.

Criticism is above all a gift, an intuition, a matter of tact and flair; it cannot be taught or demonstrated--it is an art.