Martin in particular concluded that man was born to live either in the convulsions of misery, or in the lethargy of boredom.

Hope should no more be a virtue than fear; we fear and we hope, according to what is promised or threatened us.

What is tolerance? It is the consequence of humanity.

A minister of state is excusable for the harm he does when the helm of government has forced his hand in a storm; but in the calm he is guilty of all the good he does not do.

The Deluge: A punishment inflicted on the human race by an all-knowing God, who, through not having foreseen the wickedness of men, repented of having made them, and drowned them once for all to make them better - an act which, as we all know, was accompanied by the greatest success.

He who is not just is severe, he who is not wise is sad.

Men who have seen life and death... as an unbroken continuum, the swinging pendulum, have been able to move as freely into death as they walked through life. Socrates went to the grave almost perplexed by his companions' tears.