Take from the philosopher the pleasure of being heard and his desire for knowledge ceases.

There exists one book, which, to my taste, furnishes the happiest treatise of natural education. What then is this marvelous book? Is it Aristotle? Is it Pliny, is it Buffon? No-it is Robinson Crusoe.

Anticipation and Hope are born twins.

In all the ills that befall us, we are more concerned by the intention than the result. A tile that falls off a roof may injure us more seriously, but it will not wound us so deeply as a stone thrown deliberately by a malevolent hand. The blow may miss, but the intention always strikes home.

Great men never make bad use of their superiority. They see it and feel it and are not less modest. The more they have, the more they know their own deficiencies.

It is not our criminal actions that require courage to confess, but those which are ridiculous and foolish.

The truths of the Scriptures are so marked and inimitable, that the inventor would be more of a miraculous character than the hero.