Nothing which does not transport is poetry. The lyre is a winged instrument.

Maxims are to the intellect what laws are to actions; they do not enlighten, but they guide and direct, and, although themselves blind, are protective.

We shall always keep a spare corner in our heads to give passing hospitality to our friends' opinion.

We are all of us more or less echoes, repeating involuntarily the virtues, the defects, the movements, and the characters of those among whom we live.

The sound of the drum drives out thought; for that very reason it is the most military of instruments.

The mind conceives with pain, but it brings forth with delight.

Credulity forges more miracles than trickery could invent.