That past which is so presumptuously brought forward as a precedent for the present, was itself founded on some past that went before it.

That past which is so presumptuously brought forward as a precedent for the present, was itself founded on some past that went before it.

Conversation as talent exists only in France. In other countries, conversation provides politeness, discussion, and friendship; in France, it is an art for which imagination and soul are certainly very welcome, but which can also provide its own secret remedies to compensate you for the absence of either or both, if you so desire.

[On Napoleon:] One has the impression of an imperious wind blowing about one's ears when one is near that man.

there is not enough interest in life to spread over twenty-four hours when one can't sleep.

The pursuit of politics is religion, morality, and poetry all in one.

What is love, if it can calculate and provide against its own decay?