“Speech seems to be man's sole predestination, and he was created to bring forth thoughts as the tree brings forth its fruit.”

Original: Il semble que la parole soit la seule prédestination de l'homme et qu'il ait été créé pour enfanter des pensées comme l'arbre pour enfanter son fruit. — Links language and thought to natural generation, elevating speech as humanity's essential purpose. · Graziella, 1852 (French)

• Creation
• Humanity
• Speech

“Silence is the winding-sheet of the past: it is sometimes impious, often dangerous to raise it. But even when it is raised piously and lovingly, the first moment is a cruel one.”

Original: Le silence est le linceul du passé: il est quelquefois impie, souvent dangereux de le soulever. Mais même lorsqu'on le soulève pieusement et avec amour, le premier moment est cruel. — Warns that revisiting the past, however tenderly, first wounds before it consoles. · Les Confidences, 1849 (French)

• Memory
• Past
• Silence

“Utopias are often only premature truths.”

Original: Les utopies ne sont souvent que des vérités prématurées. — Suggests that what seems visionary may simply anticipate ideas whose time has not yet come. · Histoire des Girondins, 1847 (French)

• Ideas
• Progress
• Truth