We do not see nature with our eyes, but with our understandings and our hearts.

Men are in numberless instances qualified for certain things, for no other reason than because they are qualified for nothing else.

There is a heroism in crime as well as in virtue. Vice and infamy have their altars and their religion.

Dandyism is a species of genius.

We are not hypocrites in our sleep.

The true barbarian is he who thinks everything barbarous but his own tastes and prejudices.

Power is pleasure; and pleasure sweetens pain.