The man visited by ecstasies and visions, who takes dreams for realities is an enthusiast; the man who supports his madness with murder is a fanatic.

Now is not the time for making new enemies.

May God defend me from my friends: I can defend myself from my enemies.

The passions are the winds which fill the sails of the vessel; they sink it at times, but without them it would be impossible to make way.

Judge a man by his questions rather than his answers.

What most persons consider as virtue, after the age of 40 is simply a loss of energy.

I confess that my stomach does not take to this style of cooking. I cannot accept calves sweetbreads swimming in a salty sauce, nor can I eat mince consisting of turkey, hare, and rabbit, which they try to persuade me comes from a single animal... As for the cooks, I really cannot be expected to put up with this ham essence, nor the excessive quantity of morels and other mushrooms, pepper, and nutmeg with which they disguise perfectly good food.