Good laws lead to the making of better ones; bad ones bring about worse.

General abstract truth is the most precious of all blessings; without it, man is blind; it is the eye of reason.

How many famous and high-spirited heroes have lived a day too long?

The empire of woman is an empire of softness, of address, of complacency. Her commands are caresses, her menaces are tears.

Frequent punishments are always a sign of weakness or laziness on the part of a government.

It is believed that physiognomy is only a simple development of the features already marked out by nature. It is my opinion, however, that in addition to this development, the features come insensibly to be formed and assume their shape from the frequent and habitual expression of certain affections of the soul. These affections are marked on the countenance; nothing is more certain than this; and when they turn into habits, they must leave on it durable impressions.

Since men cannot create new forces, but merely combine and control those which already exist, the only way in which they can preserve themselves is by uniting their separate powers in a combination strong enough to overcome any resistance, uniting them so that their powers are directed by a single motive and act in concert.