The utility of living consists not in the length of days, but in the use of time; a man may have lived long, and yet lived but a little.

I seek in the reading of books, only to please myself, by an honest diversion.

In my youth I studied for ostentation; later, a little to gain wisdom; now, for recreation; never for gain.

I never rebel so much against France as not to regard Paris with a friendly eye; she has had my heart since my childhood... I love her tenderly, even to her warts and her spots. I am French only by this great city: the glory of France, and one of the noblest ornaments of the world.

Men ... are not agreed about any one thing, not even that heaven is over our heads.

We wake sleeping, and sleep waking. I do not see so clearly in my sleep; but as to my being awake, I never found it clear enough and free from clouds.

Laws are often made by fools, and even more often by men who fail in equity because they hate equality: but always by men, vain authorities who can resolve nothing.