The favorites of fortune or of fame topple from their pedestals before our eyes without diverting us from ambition.

Vice foments war; it is virtue which actually fights. If there were no virtue, we would live in peace forever.

The most absurd and reckless aspirations have sometimes led to extraordinary success.

If passion sometimes counsels greater boldness than does reflection, it gives more strength to execute it.

It is of no use to possess a lively wit if it is not of the right proportion: the perfection of a clock is not to go fast, but to be accurate.

No one is more liable to make mistakes than he who acts only on reflexion.

Vice stirs up war, virtue fights.