The glossy surface of our civilization hides a real intellectual decadence.

Man alone can enslave man.

We are like plants which have the one choice of being in or out of the light.

A hurtful act is the transference to others of the degradation which we bear in ourselves.

When a man's life is destroyed or damaged by some wound or privation of soul or body, which is due to other men's actions or negligence, it is not only his sensibility that suffers but also his aspiration toward the good. Therefore there has been sacrilege towards that which is sacred in him.

I think that it is useless to fight directly against natural weaknesses. One has to force oneself to act as though one did not have them in circumstances where a duty makes it imperative; and in the ordinary course of life one has to know these weaknesses, prudently take them into account, and strive to turn them to good purpose; for they are all capable of being put to some good purpose.

The destruction of the past is perhaps the greatest of all crimes.