Revolution is the larva of civilization.

There is no distress so complete but that even in the most critical moments the inexplicable sunrise of hope is seen in its depths.

To see so much misery everywhere, I suspect that God is not rich. He keeps up appearances, it is true, but I feel the pinch. He gives a revolution as a merchant, whose credit is low, gives a ball.

France is great because she is France.

We are all under sentence of death, but with a sort of indefinite reprieve.

Rhyme, that enslaved queen, that supreme charm of our poetry, that creator of our meter.

I exist," murmurs someone whose name is Everyone. "I'm young and in love; I am old and I want rest; I work, I prosper, I do good business, I have houses to rent, money in State Securities; I am happy, I have wife and children; I like all these things and I want to go on living, so leave me alone."... There are moments when all this casts a deep chill on the large-minded pioneers of the human race.