A minister of state is excusable for the harm he does when the helm of government has forced his hand in a storm; but in the calm he is guilty of all the good he does not do.

It is dangerous to be right in matters where established men are wrong.

If God has made us in his image, we have returned him the favor.

We all look for happiness, but without knowing where to find it: like drunkards who look for their house, knowing dimly that they have one.

To pray to God is to flatter oneself that with words one can alter nature.

It is one of the superstitions of the human mind to have imagined that virginity could be a virtue.

To hold a pen is to be at war.

It is better to risk sparing a guilty person than to condemn an innocent one.

Clever tyrants are never punished.

The first who was king was a fortunate soldier: Who serves his country well has no need of ancestors.