Adam Cuninghame

“No - we will not conquer the heavens. Enough to have the power. War engenders war, and victory defeat. God, conquered, will become Satan; Satan, conquering, will become God. May the fates spare me this terrible lot; I love the Hell which formed my genius. I love the Earth where I have done some good, if it be possible to do any good in this fearful world where beings live but by rapine.”
― Anatole France, The Revolt of the Angels

“Of so little weight are the greatest services to princes, when put into the balance with a refusal to gratify their passions.”
― Jonathan Swift, Gulliver’s Travels

“One comes into this world, to enjoy what is beautiful and what is good, and to do as one pleases, when the things one wants to do are noble, intelligent and generous. An education which does not cultivate the will, is an education that depraves the mind. It is a teacher's duty to teach the pupil how to will.”
― Anatole France, The Crime of Sylvestre Bonnard

“But what are years, what are months!" he would exclaim. "Why count the days, when even one day is enough for man to know all happiness.”
― Fyodor Dostoyevsky, The Brothers Karamazov