Nothing that has ever been thought and said with a clear mind and pure ethical strength is totally in vain; even if it comes froma weak hand and is imperfectly formed, it inspires the ethical spirit to constantly renewed creation.

How terrible this darkness was, how bewildering, and yet mysteriously beautiful!

The greater part of our best years has been passed for our generation in these two great worldconvulsions. All will be changed after this war, which spends in one month more than nations earned before in yearsthere is no more security in our time than in those of the Reformation or the fall of Rome.

Formerly man had only a body and a soul. Now he needs a passport as well for without it he will not be treated like a human being.

Often the presence of mind and energy of a person remote from the spotlight decide the course of history for centuries to come.

When it looks at great accomplishments, the world, bent on simplifying its images, likes best to look at the dramatic, picturesquemoments experienced by its heroes.... But the no less creative years of preparation remain in the shadow.

In history as in human life, regret does not bring back a lost moment and a thousand years will not recover something lost in a single hour.