Blessed be childhood, which brings down something of Heaven into the midst of our rough earthliness.

Society lives by faith, and develops by science.

Without passion man is a mere latent force and possibility, like the flint which awaits the shock of the iron before it can give forth its spark.

Sadness takes up the pen more readily than joy.

To win true peace, a man needs to feel himself directed, pardoned, and sustained by a supreme power, to feel himself in the right road, at the point where God would have him be -- in order with God and the universe. This faith gives strength and calm.

Oh be swift to live, make haste to be kind.

A belief is not true simply because it is useful.

Time is but the measure of the difficulty of a conception. Pure thought has scarcely any need of time, since it perceives the two ends of an idea almost at the same moment.

We only understand that which already is within us.

Charm is the quality in others that makes us more satisfied with ourselves.

Conquering any difficulty always gives one a secret joy, for it means pushing back a boundary line and adding to one's liberty.

Tears are the symbol of the inability of the soul to restrain its emotion and retain its self command.

Self-interest is an inexhaustible source of convenient illusions. The number of beings who wish to see truly is extraordinarily small.

Religion is not a method, it is a life, a higher and supernatural life, mystical in its root and practical in its fruits; a communion with God, a calm and deep enthusiasm, a love which radiates, a force which acts, a happiness which overflows.

The only substance properly so called is the soul.

Order means light and peace, inward liberty and free command over one's self; order is power.

Are we not all shipwrecked,...condemned to death?... However impatient our neighbours make us, however much indignation our race arouses, we are all bound together, and the companions of a chain-gang have everything to lose by mutual insults.

Order is power.

Woman is the salvation or the destruction of the family. She carries its destiny in the folds of her mantle.

The great artist and thinker are the simplifiers.