There is one kind of robber whom the law does not strike at, and who steals what is most precious to men: time.

The most desirable quality in a soldier is constancy in the support of fatigue; valor is only secondary.

Whatever misanthropists may say, ingrates and the perverse are exceptions in the human species.

Man loves the marvelous. It has an irresistible charm for him. He is always ready to leave that with which he is familiar to pursue vain inventions. He lends himself to his own deception.

There is no Nation however small which had the right to set itself free, that has not rescued itself from the dishonour of obeying the Prince imposed by an enemy in the hour of victory.

From triumph to downfall there is but one step. I have noted that, in the most momentous occasions, mere nothings have always decided the outcome of the greatest events.

I am sometimes a fox and sometimes a lion. The whole secret of government lies in knowing when to be the one or the other.