One can lead a nation only by helping it see a bright outlook. A leader is a dealer in hope.
A celebrated people lose dignity upon a closer view.
There is no such thing as an accident, only a failure to recognise the hand of fate
Military despotism represses generous sentiments, priestly tyranny stifles them.
War is a lottery in which nations ought to risk nothing but small amounts.
I am the successor, not of Louis XVI, but of Charlemagne.