But the purpose of a story is to teach and to please at once, and what it teaches is how to recognize the snares of the world.

It is necessary to meditate early, and often, on the art of dying to succeed later in doing it properly just once.

Citizens who refuse to obey anything but their own conscience can transform countries, it is the basis of any real democracy.

He was fond of saying, "There is a bravery of the priest as well as the bravery of a colonel of dragoons, --only, " he added, "ours must be tranquil.

Tomorrow will be too late, it's now or never.

In all institutions from which the cold wind of open criticism is excluded, an innocent corruption begins to grow like a mushroom - for example, in senates and learned societies

Every person born into this world their work is born with them.

Anyone who writes an autobiographical work at the age of 34 is, at best, presumptuous. It occurred to me that it was time to set the record straight.

Most people don't realize that the mind constantly chatters. And yet, that chatter winds up being the force that drives us much of the day in terms of what we do, what we react to, and how we feel.

The great achievement of the Catholic Church lay in harmonizing, civilizing the deepest impulses of ordinary, ignorant people.

Now that I'm 60, every morning I look in the mirror and say, "I don't know who you are, stranger, but I'm gonna shave you anyway".

You will fail and I’ll dance on your grave. (Apollymi)