To live is not to breathe but to act. It is to make use of our organs, our senses, our faculties, of all the parts of ourselves which give us the sentiment of our existence. The man who has lived the most is not he who has counted the most years but he who has most felt life.

Self-love is an instrument useful but dangerous; it often wounds the hand which makes use of it, and seldom does good without doing harm.

Never exceed your rights, and they will soon become unlimited.

Our affections as well as our bodies are in perpetual flux.

Force does not constitute right... obedience is due only to legitimate powers.

Presence of mind, penetration, fine observation, are the sciences of women; ability to avail themselves of these is their talent.

He who pretends to look on death without fear lies. All men are afraid of dying, this is the great law of sentient beings, without which the entire human species would soon be destroyed.