“Poverty is a fortress without drawbridges.”

“Poverty is a state whose feature is generosity.”

“They went on living in poverty, though they were no longer in need, but they were set in their ways, and they looked on life with a resigned suspicion; they loved it as animals do, but they knew from experience that it would regularly give birth to disaster without even showing any sign that it was carrying it.”

“Poverty, first of all was never a misfortune for me; it was radiant with sunlight.. I owe it to my family, first of all, who lacked everything and who envied practically nothing.”

“In the past, the poverty they shared had a certain sweetness about it. When the end of the day came and they would eat their dinner in silence with the oil lamp between them, there was a secret joy in such simplicity, such retrenchment.”

“Politics and the fate of mankind are formed by men without ideals and without greatness...”

“Ah, mon cher, for anyone who is alone, without God and without a master, the weight of days is dreadful.”