“There are people who observe the rules of honor as one observes the stars, from a great distance.”

“For many great deeds are accomplished in times of squalid struggle. There is a kind of stubborn, unrecognized courage which in the lowest depths tenaciously resists the pressures of necessity and ill-doing; there are noble and obscure triumphs observed by no one, unacclaimed by any fanfare. Hardship, loneliness, and penury are a battlefield which has its own heroes, sometimes greater than those lauded in history. Strong and rare characters are thus created; poverty nearly always a foster-mother, may become a true mother, distress may be the nursemaid of pride, and misfortune the milk that nourishes great spirits.”

“One sees qualities at a distance and defects at close range.”

“To know how to distinguish the agitation arising from covetousness, from the agitation arising from principles, to fight the one and aid the other, in this lies the genius and the power of great revolutionary leaders.”

“There is no one for spying on people's actions like those who are not concerned in them”

“What is called honors and dignities, and even honor and dignity, is generally fool's gold.”

“To be a saint is the exception; to be a just person is the rule. Err, stumble, commit sin, but be one of the just.”