“I like peasants-they are not sophisticated enough to reason speciously.”

Republics end through luxury; monarchies through poverty.

A really intelligent man feels what other men only know.

The less luxury there is in a republic, the more it is perfect.

It is rare to find learned men who are clean, do not stink and have a sense of humour.

I have never known any distress that an hour’s reading did not relieve.

Every man who has power is impelled to abuse it.

There is no crueler tyranny than that which is perpetuated under the shield of law and in the name of justice.

The history of commerce is that of the communication of the people.

Republics are brought to their ends by luxury; monarchies by poverty.

Better it is to say that the government most comfortable to nature is that which best agrees with the humor and disposition of the people in whose favor it is established.

If I knew something that would serve my country but would harm mankind, I would never reveal it; for I am a citizen of humanity first and by necessity, and a citizen of France second, and only by accident

I never listen to calumnies, because if they are untrue I run the risk of being deceived, and if they be true, of hating persons not worth thinking about.

I have always observed that to succeed in the world one should seem a fool, but be wise.

In the birth of societies it is the chiefs of states who give it its special character; and afterward it is this special character that forms the chiefs of state.

In the infancy of societies, the chiefs of state shape its institutions; later the institutions shape the chiefs of state.

To succeed in the world we must look foolish but be wise.

I write what I call ‘novels of consolation’ for people who are bright and sophisticated.

While a dramatized scene is a way of proving and guaranteeing an emotional experience for the reader, exposition assumes that the reader is sophisticated and can see the universal.

Also, I have to assume that readers are sophisticated enough to know that not every person in a community is the same, and so there are many people who would not force an abortion just because a fetus is female.

I think that we’re always drawn – particularly sophisticated people – are always drawn to the idea of simplicity.

I don’t want to speak for my movies; you could say my movies are just completely silly and dumb, but in the case of ‘Idiocracy’ and ‘Borat,’ without a doubt there is a really subversive and sophisticated assault on American culture.

Men are not as sophisticated as women. They’re not as mature as women. They’re not as connected with their emotions as women…

Daniel Levitin takes the most sophisticated ideas that exist about the brain and mind, applies them to the most emotionally direct art we have, our songs, and makes beautiful music of the two together.

The art of decoration requires the most sophisticated and self-indulgent skills. Its aim has always been to sate the senses as gloriously as possible… ornament is not only a source of sensuous pleasure