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.

I do not want an echo of myself from my children. I do not want to hear from them merely the reverberation of my own voice.

Kindness and generosity ... form the true morality of human actions.

Innocence in genius, and candor in power, are both noble qualities.

In women's destiny everything goes downhill except for thought, whose immortal nature it is to keep constantly rising.

Happy the land where the writers are sad, the merchants satisfied, the rich melancholic, and the populace content.

Politeness is the art of choosing among your thoughts.