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

In sheer genius Pascal ranks among the very greatest writers who have lived upon this earth. And his genius was not simply artistic; it displayed itself no less in his character and in the quality of his thought.

Perhaps the best test of a man's intelligence is his capacity for making a summary.

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.

Englishmen have always loved Moliere.

With a very few exceptions, every word in the French vocabulary comes straight from the Latin.

There is something dark and wintry about the atmosphere of the later Middle Ages.