A sick man, surrounded by those who love him, nursed by those who wish earnestly that he should live, will recover (all other things being equal), when another patient tended by hirelings will die. Doctors decline to see unconscious magnestism in this phenomenon; for them it is the result of intelligent nursing, of exact obedience to their orders; but many a mother knows the virtue of such ardent projections of strong, unceasing prayer.

Glory and fame mean twelve thousand francs' worth of paid articles in the newspapers and five thousand crowns' worth of dinners.

But reason always cuts a poor figure beside sentiment; the one being essentially restricted, like everything that is positive, while the other is infinite.

Despotism accomplishes great things illegally; liberty doesn't even go to the trouble of accomplishing small things legally.

A vocation is born to us all; happily most of us meet promptly our twin,--occupation.

Love based upon money and vanity forms the most stubborn of passions.

A letter is a soul, so faithful an echo of the speaking voice that to the sensitive it is among the richest treasures of love.