We are never deceived; we deceive ourselves.

Pity on the person who has become accustomed to seeing in necessity something arbitrary, who ascribes to the arbitrary some sort of reason, and even claims that following that sort of reason has religious value.

Things which matter most must never be at the mercy of things which matter least.

No one feels himself easy in a garden which does not look like the open country.

Investigate what is, and not what pleases.

There is not a single outward mark of courtesy that does not have a deep moral basis.

Destiny grants us our wishes, but in its own way, in order to give us something beyond our wishes.