“Ten people who speak make more noise than ten thousand who are silent.”

“Four hostile newspapers are more to be feared than a thousand bayonets..”

“To write history one must be more than a man, since the author who holds the pen of this great justiciary must be free from all preoccupation of interest or vanity.”

“A great reserve and severity of manners are necessary for the command of those who are older than ourselves.”

“Show me a family of readers, and I will show you the people who move the world.”

“Nothing is more difficult, and therefore more precious, than to be able to decide.”

“What is a throne? — a bit of wood gilded and covered in velvet. I am the state— I alone am here the representative of the people. Even if I had done wrong you should not have reproached me in public—people wash their dirty linen at home. France has more need of me than I of France.”