Let our lives be pure as snowfields, where our steps leave a mark but no stain.

If it were ever allowable to forget what is due to superiority of rank, it would be when the privileged themselves remember it.

Old age is not one of the beauties of creation, but it is one of its harmonies. The law of contrasts is one of the laws of beauty. Under the conditions of our climate, shadow gives light its worth; sternness enhances mildness; solemnity, splendor. Varying proportions of size support and subserve one another.

The best of lessons, for a good many people, would be to listen at a keyhole. It is a pity for such that the practice is dishonorable.

Antiquity is a species of aristocracy with which it is not easy to be on visiting terms.

We expect everything and are prepared for nothing.

The most culpable of the excesses of Liberty is the harm she does herself.