How far the existence of the Academy has influenced French literature, either for good or for evil, is an extremely dubious question.

A writer’s promise is like a tiger’s smile

It is perhaps as difficult to write a good life as to live one.

Modern as the style of Pascal's writing is, his thought is deeply impregnated with the spirit of the Middle Ages. He belonged, almost equally, to the future and to the past.

How far the existence of the Academy has influenced French literature, either for good or for evil, is an extremely dubious question.

Ignorance is the first requisite of the historian - ignorance, which simplifies and clarifies, which selects and omits, with a placid perfection unattainable by the highest art.

The old interests of aristocracy - the romance of action, the exalted passions of chivalry and war - faded into the background, and their place was taken by the refined and intimate pursuits of peace and civilization.