In order to govern, the question is not to follow out a more or less valid theory but to build with whatever materials are at hand. The inevitable must be accepted and turned to advantage.

Of all the peoples of Europe, Spaniards disgust me the least.

When I was happy I thought I knew men, but it was fated that I should know them in misfortune only.

The advance and perfecting of mathematics are closely joined to the prosperity of the nation.

Independence, like honor, is a rocky island, without a beach.

Nothing renders a nation so despicable as religious despotism.

Water, air, and cleanness are the chief articles in my pharmacy.