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| A new principle is an inexhaustible source of new views. | 1 |
| All men are born sincere and die deceivers. | 2 |
| Celui qui a grand sens sait beaucoup—A man of large intelligence knows a great deal. | 3 |
| Excessive distrust is not less hurtful than its opposite. Most men become useless to him who is unwilling to risk being deceived. | 4 |
| Glory fills the world with virtue, and, like a beneficent sun, covers the whole earth with flowers and fruits. | 5 |
| Great men essay enterprises because they think them great, and fools because they think them easy. | 6 |
| Great thoughts come from the heart. | 7 |
| Hatred is keener than friendship, less keen than love. | 8 |
| If people did not flatter one another, there would be little society. | 9 |
| Il est bon d’être ferme par tempérament et flexible par réflexion—It is good to be firm by temperament and pliable by reflexion. | 10 |
| Il n’y a peut-être point de vérité qui ne soit à quelque esprit faux matière d’erreur—There is, perhaps, no truth that is not to some false minds matter of error. | 11 |
| Il n’y a rien que la crainte et l’espérance ne persuadent aux hommes—There is nothing that fear and hope does not persuade men to do. | 12 |
| In order to do great things, it is necessary to live as if one were never to die. | 13 |
| Indolence is the sleep of the mind. | 14 |
| It is easy to criticise an author, but it is difficult to appreciate him. | 15 |
| La loi ne saurait égaliser les hommes malgré la nature—The law cannot equalise men in spite of nature. | 16 |
| La modération des faibles est médiocrité—The moderation of the weak is mediocrity. | 17 |
| La patience est l’art d’espérer—Patience is the art of hoping. | 18 |
| La prospérité fait peu d’amis—Prosperity makes few friends. | 19 |
| Le désespoir comble non seulement notre misère, mais notre faiblesse—Despair gives the finishing blow not only to misery, but to weakness. | 20 |
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| Les méchants sont toujours surpris de trouver de l’habilité dans les bons—Wicked men are always surprised to discover ability in good men. | 21 |
| Les maximes des hommes décèlent leur cœur—Men show what they are by their maxims. | 22 |
| Lorsqu’une pensée est trop faible pour porter une expression simple, c’est la marque pour la rejeter—When a thought is too weak to bear a simple expression, it is a sign that it deserves rejection. | 23 |
| Magnanimity owes to prudence no account of its motives. | 24 |
| Nature knows no equality; her sovereign law is subordination and dependence. | 25 |
| Of all pleasures, the fruit of labour is the sweetest. | 26 |
| On peut dominer par la force, mais jamais par la seule adresse—We may lord it by force, but never by adroitness alone. | 27 |
| One of the noblest qualities in our nature is that we are able so easily to dispense with greater perfection. | 28 |
| Our virtues are dearer to us the more we have had to suffer for them. It is the same with our children. All profound affection admits a sacrifice. | 29 |
| Patience is the art of hoping. | 30 |
| Persevere in the fight, struggle on, do not let go, think magnanimously of man and life, for man is good and life is affluent and fruitful. | 31 |
| Perspicuity is the offset of profound thoughts. | 32 |
| Pour avoir du goût, il faut avoir de l’âme—To have taste, one must have some soul. | 33 |
| Qui sait tout souffrir peut tout oser—He who can bear all can dare all. | 34 |
| The art of pleasing is the art of deceiving. | 35 |
| The first days of spring have less grace than the growing virtue of a young man. | 36 |
| The idle always have a mind to do something. | 37 |
| The law cannot equalise men in spite of nature. | 38 |
| To achieve great things a man must so live as if he had never to die. | 39 |
| We are able easily to dispense with greater perfection. | 40 |
| We cannot be just if we are not humane. | 41 |
| We often quarrel with the unfortunate to get rid of pitying them. | 42 |
| When a thought is too weak to be simply expressed, it is a clear proof that it should be rejected. | 43 |
| Whoever has seen the masked at a ball dance amicably together, and take hold of hands without knowing each other, leaving the next moment to meet no more, can form an idea of the world. | 44 |
| You must rouse in men a consciousness of their own prudence and strength, if you would raise their character. | 45 |
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