The experiences show us just as we are; they make us see our own defects.

The best fortune that can fall to a man is that which corrects his defects and makes up for his failings.

With the growth of knowledge our ideas must from time to time be organized afresh. The change takes place usually in accordance with new maxims as they arise, but it always remains provisional.

Great endowments often announce themselves in youth in the form of singularity and awkwardness.

How often do I lull my seething blood to rest, for you have never seen anything so unsteady, so uncertain, as this heart.

Great thoughts and a pure heart, that is what we should ask from God.

In politics people throw themselves, as on a sickbed, from one side to the other in the belief they will lie more comfortably.