To be loved for what one is, that is the greatest exception. The great majority love in others only what they lend him; their own selves, their version of him.

A stated truth loses its grace, but a repeated error appears insipid and ridiculous.

Perseverance is a silent power that grows irresistibly greater with time.

And those whom once my song had cheered and gladdened, If still they live, rove through the world now saddened.

I do not speak of what I cannot praise.

One must not criticize that which is common since it remains always the same.

Napoleon affords us an example of the danger of elevating one's self to the absolute, and sacrificing everything to the carrying out of an idea.