The stability and peace which seemed to be so firmly established by the brilliant monarchy of Francis I vanished with the terrible outbreak of the Wars of Religion.

Ignorance is the first requisite of the historian - ignorance, which simplifies and clarifies, which selects and omits, with a placid perfection unattainable by the highest art.

The old interests of aristocracy - the romance of action, the exalted passions of chivalry and war - faded into the background, and their place was taken by the refined and intimate pursuits of peace and civilization.

How far the existence of the Academy has influenced French literature, either for good or for evil, is an extremely dubious question.

The amateur is very rare in French literature - as rare as he is common in our own.

Discretion is not the better part of biography.