“Love of reading enables a man to exchange the weary hours, which come to every one, for hours of delight.”

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.

A good writer does not write as people write, but as he writes.

You have to study a great deal to know a little.

There have never been so many civil wars as in the Kingdom of Christ.

Human laws made to direct the will ought to give precepts, and not counsels.

The severity of the laws prevents their execution.

Men, who are rogues individually, are in the mass very honorable people.

Slavery, properly so called, is the establishment of a right which gives to one man such a power over another as renders him absolute master of his life and fortune.

Liberty… is there only when there is no abuse of power.

Oh, how empty is praise when it reflects back to its origin!

Power ought to serve as a check to power.

If you would be holy, instruct your children, because all the good acts they perform will be imputed to you.