Beauty captivates the flesh in order to obtain permission to pass right through to the soul. . . . When the feeling for beauty happens to be associated with the sight of some human being, the transference of love is made possible, at any rate in an illusory manner. But it is all the beauty of the world, it is universal beauty, for which we yearn.

The feeding of those that are hungry is a form of contemplation.

A mind enclosed in language is in prison.

It is not enough that France should be regarded as a country which enjoys the remains of a freedom acquired long ago. If she is still to count in the world--and if she does not intend to, she may as well perish--she must be seen by her own citizens and by all men as an ever-flowing source of liberty. There must not be a single genuine lover of freedom in the whole world who can have a valid reason for hating France.

To be a hero or a heroine, one must give an order to oneself.

Love of God is pure when joy and suffering inspire an equal degree of gratitude.

Human existence is so fragile a thing and exposed to such dangers that I cannot love without trembling.