There is a huge gulf between the man who follows the conventions and laws of his country and the man who sets out to regiment them and to change them.

Business in a certain sort of men is a mark of understanding, and they are honored for it. Their souls seek repose in agitation, as children do by being rocked in a cradle. They may pronounce themselves as serviceable to their friends as troublesome to themselves. No one distributes his money to others, but every one therein distributes his time and his life. There is nothing of which we are so prodigal as of those two things, of which to be thrifty would be both commendable and useful.

In love, 'tis no other than frantic desire for that which flies from us.

When I am attached by gloomy thoughts, nothing helps me so much as running to my books. They quickly absorb me and banish the clouds from my mind.

If you press me to say why I loved him, I can say no more than it was because he was he, and I was I.

Tis faith alone that vividly and certainly comprehends the deep mysteries of our religion.

The most fruitful and natural exercise for our minds is, in my opinion, conversation.