It is not in everyone's power to secure wealth, office, or honors; but everyone may be good, generous, and wise.

To withdraw ourselves from the law of the strong, we have found ourselves obliged to submit to justice. Justice or might, we must choose between these two masters.

If it is true that vice can never be done away with, the science of government consists of making it contribute to the public good.

The falsest of all philosophies is that which, under the pretext of delivering men from the embarrassment of their passions, counsels idleness and the abandonment and neglect of themselves.

Wit does not take the place of knowledge.

We are almost always guilty of the hate we encounter.

To possess taste, one must have some soul.