“The only reward to be expected from the cultivation of literature is contempt if one fails and and hatred if one succeeds.”

“To succeed in the world it is not enough to be stupid - one must also be polite.”

“Let us cultivate our garden.”

“Il faut cultiver notre jardin.”

“I know of only one serious thing on this earth, the growing of grapes.”

“What can be feared when one is doing one's duty? I know the rage of my enemies. I know all their slanders; but when one only tries to do good to men and when one does not offend heaven, one can fear nothing, neither during life nor after death.”

“I have no more than twenty acres of ground," he replied, "the whole of which I cultivate myself with the help of my children; and our labor keeps off from us the three great evils - boredom, vice, and want.”