The preoccupation with what should be is estimable only when the respect for what is has been exhausted.

Our firmest convictions are apt to be the most suspect; they mark our limitations and our bounds. Life is a petty thing unless it is moved by the indomitable urge to extend its boundaries.

If the human intellect functions, it is actually in order to solve the problems which the man's inner destiny sets it.

The librarian's mission should be, not like up to now, a mere handling of the book as an object, but rather a know how (mise au point) of the book as a vital function.

There is no doubt; even a rejection can be the shadow of a caress”.

The hero's will is not that of his ancestors nor of his society, but his own. This will to be oneself is heroism.

In order to master the unruly torrent of life the learned man meditates, the poet quivers, and the political hero erects the fortress of his will.