The less men think, the more they talk - Montesquieu

There is no nation so powerful, as the one that obeys its laws not from principles of fear or
reason, but from passion.

For myself, I would rather not write history than write it for the purpose of following the prejudices and passions of the times.

Here, someone makes the Capetians descend from the Merovingians; there, someone else has it that the name very Christian has always been applied to the {French} princes.

They don't form a system after reading history; they begin with the system and then search for the proofs.

Paris est peut-être la ville du monde la plus sensuelle, et où l'on raffine le plus sur les plaisirs; mais c'est peut-être celle où l'on mène une vie plus dure. Pour qu'un homme vive délicieusement, il faut que cent autres travaillent sans relâche.