“Languages exist by arbitrary institutions and conventions among peoples; words, as the dialecticians tell us, do not signify naturally, but at our pleasure.”

To laugh is proper to man.

Of a young hermit, an old devil.

It is better to write of laughter than of tears, for laughter is the property of man.

Time, which wears down and diminishes all things, augments and increases good deeds, because a good turn liberally offered to a reasonable man grows continually through noble thought and memory.

In this mortal life, nothing is blessed throughout.

If you want to avoid seeing an idiot, break the mirror.

A habit does not a monk make.

Debts and lies are generally mixed together.

I never drink without a thirst, either present or future.

Science sans conscience. Knowledge without conscience is but the ruin of the soul.

Pantagruel was telling me that he believed the queen had given the symbolic word used among her subjects to denote sovereign good cheer, when she said to her tabachins, A panacea.

It is my feeling that Time ripens all things; with Time all things are revealed; Time is the father of truth.

The scent of wine, oh how much more agreeable, laughing, praying, celestial and delicious it is than that of oil!

Frugality is for the vulgar.

Tell the truth and shame the devil.

Misery is the company of lawsuits.

Remember that, however patient your study, you will never in adult life learn any language perfectly; the best you can hope for is to be a bore.

I am the only one in the world that understands the language of your soul.

Speaking English is like tongue-twist for me. I can speak each word perfect, but then you have to string them together like, ‘Blah, blah, blah.’ That’s when I get crazy.

Prayers have no boundaries. They can leap miles and continents and be translated instantly into any language.

Anyone’s happier when they’re not being verbally abused all day long.

The best armor against everything around you is to be well educated, to work hard, to be twice as good as if you had to be, to do languages and culture better.

I spend more time learning about Buddhism than English, which is why my English today is still bad.

I can ask for cigarettes in every language.