Luxury... corrupts at once rich and poor, the rich by possession and the poor by covetousness.

The landscapist lives in silence.

The first man to fence in a piece of land, saying "this is mine" and who found people simple enough to believe him, was the real founder of civil society.

We are the two great painters of this era; you are in the Egyptian style, I in themodern style. (to Pablo Picasso)

The severity of penalties is only a vain resource, invented by little minds in order to substitute terror for that respect which they have no means of obtaining.

The universe was born restless and has never since been still.

Cities are the sinks of the human race.