I have seen men incapable of the sciences, but never any incapable of virtue.

An admiral should be put to death now and then to encourage the others.

Such then is the human condition, that to wish greatness for one's country is to wish harm to one's neighbors.

The man who, in a fit of melancholy, kills himself today, would have wished to live had he waited a week.

To announce truths is an infallible receipt for being persecuted.

He who has heard the same thing told by 12,000 eye-witnesses has only 12,000 probabilities, which are equal to one strong probability, which is far from certain.

The little may contrast with the great, in painting, but cannot be said to be contrary to it. Oppositions of colors contrast; but there are also colors contrary to each other, that is, which produce an ill effect because they shock the eye when brought very near it.