There are books which one should not attempt before having passed the age of forty.

I have come to think that great men are characterized precisely by the extreme position which they take, and that their heroism consists in holding to that extremity throughout their lives.

The founding of libraries was like constructing more public granaries, amassing reserves against a spiritual winter which by certain signs, in spite of myself, I see ahead.

Every hour has its immediate duty, its special injunction which dominates all others.

Of all our games, love's play is the only one which threatens to unsettle the soul.

Books are not life, only its ashes.

Every invalid is a prisoner.