A great man knows the value of greatness; he dares not hazard it, he will not squander it.

In argument, truth always prevails finally; in politics, falsehood always.

What is reading but silent conversation?

As there are some flowers which you should smell but slightly to extract all that is pleasant in them ... so there are some men with whom a slight acquaintance is quite sufficient to draw out all that is agreeable; a more intimate one would be unsafe and unsatisfactory.

Authors are like cattle going to a fair: those of the same field can never move on without butting one another.

Great men lose somewhat of their greatness by being near us; ordinary men gain much.

Democracy is always the work of kings. Ashes, which in themselves are sterile, fertilize the land they are cast upon.