War is the supreme form of prestige.

If we go down into ourselves, we find that we possess exactly what we desire.

Modern life is given over to immoderation. Immoderation invades everything: actions and thought, public and private life.

In the intellectual order, the virtue of humility is nothing more nor less than the power of attention.

To die for God is not a proof of faith in God. To die for an unknown and repulsive convict who is a victim of injustice, that is a proof of faith in God.

When war is waged, it is for the purpose of safeguarding or increasing one's capacity to make war. International politics are wholly involved in this vicious cycle. What is called national prestige consists in behaving always in such a way as to demoralize other nations by giving them the impression that, if it comes to war, one would certainly defeat them. What is called national security is an imaginary state of affairs in which one would retain the capacity to make war while depriving all other countries of it.

To set up as a standard of public morality a notion which can neither be defined nor conceived is to open the door to every kind of tyranny.