We are all instruments endowed with feeling and memory. Our senses are so many strings that are struck by surrounding objects and that also frequently strike themselves.

It is said that desire is a product of the will, but the converse is in fact true: will is a product of desire.

Justice is the first virtue of those who command, and stops the complaints of those who obey.

Gaiety is a quality of ordinary men. Genius always presupposes some disorder in the machine.