Mothers arms are made of tenderness, And sweet sleep blesses the child who lies therein.

To know how to distinguish the agitation arising from covetousness, from the agitation arising from principles, to fight the one and aid the other, in this lies the genius and the power of great revolutionary leaders.

Virtue has a veil, vice a mask.

Wonderful nature has a double meaning, which dazzles great minds and blinds uncultivated souls. When man is ignorant, when the desert is filled with visions, the darkness of solitude is added to the darkness of intelligence; hence, in man, the possibilities of perdition

The heart becomes heroic through passion. It is no longer composed of anything but what is pure; it no longer rests upon anything but what is elevated and great.

Reality in strong doses frightens.

Amnesty is as good for those who give it as for those who receive it. It has the admirable quality of bestowing mercy on both sides.