“No doubt, when modesty was made a virtue, it was a very advantageous thing for the fools, for everybody is expected to speak of himself as if he were one.”

“Every child is in a way a genius; and every genius is in a way a child.”

“History is the long, difficult and confused dream of Mankind.”

“The doctor sees all the weakness of mankind; the lawyer all the wickedness, the theologian all the stupidity.”

“Every human perfection is linked to an error which it threatens to turn into”

“Those that are good manners at the court are as ridiculous in the country, as the behavior of the country is most mockable at the court.”

“Literature is a comprehensive essence of the intellectual life of a nation.”

“If we tire of the saints, Shakspeare is our city of refuge.”