Not all that is presented to us as history has really happened; and what really happened did not actually happen the way it is presented to us; moreover, what really happened is only a small part of all that happened. Everything in history remains uncertain, the largest events as well as the smallest occurrence.

One doesn't always lose when one has to do without.

Not the maker of plans and promises, but rather the one who offers faithful service in small matters. This is the person who is most likely to achieve what is good and lasting.

Ah! my poor brain is racked and crazed, My spirit and senses amazed!

The credit of advancing science has always been due to individuals and never to the age.

Freedom consists not in refusing to recognize anything above us, but in respecting something which is above us; for by respecting it, we raise ourselves to it, and, by our very acknowledgment, prove that we bear within ourselves what is higher, and are worthy to be on a level with it.

Give me the benefit of your convictions, if you have any; but keep your doubts to yourself, for I have enough of my own.