11 Quotes by François Guizot

Not to be a republican at twenty is proof of want of heart; to be one at thirty is proof of want of head.

The world belongs to optimists; the pessimists are only spectators.

Modesty is a shining light; it prepares the mind to receive knowledge, and the heart for truth.

Nothing falsifies history more than logic.

The spirit of revolution, the spirit of insurrection, is a spirit radically opposed to liberty.

Do not be afraid of enthusiasm. You need it. You can do nothing effectively without it.

The man who is fond of complaining likes to remain amid the objects of his vexation. He will most strongly revolt against every means proposed for his deliverance. This is what suits him. He asks nothing better than to sigh over his position and to remain in it.

It is only after an unknown number of unrecorded labors, after a host of noble hearts have succumbed in discouragement, convinced that their cause is lost; it is only then that cause triumphs.

The effect of great and inevitable misfortune is to elevate those souls which it does not deprive of all virtue.