Whatever may be our natural talents, the art of writing is not acquired all at once.

I have never thought, for my part, that man's freedom consists in his being able to do whatever he wills, but that he should not, by any human power, be forced to do what is against his will.

Those that are most slow in making a promise are the most faithful in the performance of it.

Take the course opposite to custom and you will almost always do well.

I had been brought up in a church which decides everything and permits no doubts, so that having rejected one article of faith I was forced to reject the rest.

We are born weak, we need strength; helpless, we need aid; foolish, we need reason. All that we lack at birth, all that we need when we come to man's estate, is the gift of education.

Man was born free, and he is everywhere in chains. Those who think themselves the masters of others are indeed greater slaves than they.