Madame SwetchineThinkers

Antiquity is a species of aristocracy with which it is not easy to be on visiting terms.

The Conscience is, at once, the sweetest and most troublesome of guests. It is the voice which demanded Abel of his brother, or that celestial harmony which vibrated in the ears of the martyrs, and soothed their sufferings.

Friendship is like those ancient altars where the unhappy, and even the guilty, found a sure asylum.

Old age is not one of the beauties of creation, but it is one of its harmonies. The law of contrasts is one of the laws of beauty. Under the conditions of our climate, shadow gives light its worth ; sternness enhances mildness ; solemnity, splendor. Varying proportions of size support and subserve one another.

Repentance is accepted remorse.