“Judge character by behavior.”

“If you give me six sentences written by the most innocent of men, I will find something in them with which to hang them.”

“Deception is the knowledge of kings.”

“Secrecy is the first essential in affairs of state.”

“Had Luther and Calvin been confined before they had begun to dogmatize, the states would have been spared many troubles.”

“An armchair is always an armchair, to the modern child, never a ship, never a desert island. The pattern on the wall are patterns; not characters whose faces change at dusk... The trouble is, the children have no imagination. They are sweet, and have carefree, honest eyes; but they have not any magic in their day. The magic has all gone...”

“Could I get mansions covering ten thousand miles, I'd house all the poor scholars and make them beam with smiles”