<i>Eloquence.</i> There must be elements both pleasing and real, but what is pleasing must itself be drawn from what is true. - Blaise Pascal

There is some pleasure in being on board a ship battered by storms when one is certain of not perishing. The persecutions buffeting the Church are like this.

People are generally better persuaded by the reasons which they have themselves discovered than by those which have come into the mind of others.

To be of noble birth is a great advantage. In eighteen years it places a man within the select circle, known and respected, as another have merited in fifty years. It is a gain of thirty years without trouble.