Men love their country, not because it is great, but because it is their own.

You find in some a sort of graceless modesty, that makes them ashamed to requite an obligation.

If ever you come upon a grove of ancient trees which have grown to an exceptional height, shutting out a view of sky by a veil of pleached and intertwining branches, then the loftiness of the forest, the seclusion of the spot and your marvel at the thick unbroken shade in the midst of the open spaces, will prove to you the presence of deity.

The pleasures of the palate deal with us like Egyptian thieves who strangle those whom they embrace.

What is true belongs to me!

Nothing is void of God, his work is everywhere his full of himself.

Nature does not reveal all her secrets at once. We imagine we are initiated in her mysteries: we are, as yet, but hanging around her outer courts.