There is uniformity in morals when proverbs are quoted with the same reverence by the prudent in every class of society.
The sale of offices had at least this advantage: the man who bought a judgeship, owing no obligation to the power that sold it to him, remained independent of it in his opinions and in his conscience.
December 26.
Humankind, in its mass, is a movable thing seeking to find its level.
Oratorical style carries the writer away and makes him lie to himself, just as it carries the reader away and makes him let himself be deceived.
December 30.
Fénelon. Christian candle.
The tricks of style.
At feasts, it is enough to be joyful to be agreeable.
They answer the objection, but not the difficulty.
Necessity or providence. It is so, or God wills it.
All reasoning is only figure.
It is because those in charge are the equals of their subordinates that they must be surrounded with pomp.
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The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume I · Book Mode · Diotimos