Winter is on my head, but eternal spring is in my heart; I breathe at this hour the fragrance of the lilacs, the violets, and the roses, as at twenty years ago.

Man lives more by affirmation than by bread.

My tastes are aristocratic, my actions democratic.

There are thoughts which are prayers. There are moments when, whatever the posture of the body, the soul is on its knees.

Caution is the eldest child of wisdom.

Civil War? What does that mean? Is there any foreign war? Isn't every war fought between men, between brothers? War is modified only by its aim. There's neither foreign war nor civil war; there's only unjust and just war.

Common sense is in spite of, not the result of, education.

When a woman is talking to you, listen to what she says with her eyes.

He who opens a school door, closes a prison.

Those who live are those who fight.

Sorrow is a fruit; God does not allow it to grow on a branch that is too weak to bear it.

Initiative is doing the right thing without being told.

The truth of an upright man must be accepted on his own terms. Moreover, since natures vary, we must agree that all the beauties of human excellence may be fostered by faiths that we do not share.

To reform a man, you must begin with his grandmother.

Great artists have an element of chance in their talent, and there is also talent in their chance.

People do not lack strength; they lack will.

The word which God has written on the brow of every man is hope.

Virtue has a veil, vice a mask.

Forty is the old age of youth; fifty is the youth of old age