Often the prudent, far from making their destinies, succumb to them; it is destiny which makes them prudent.

The world is dying of machinery; that is the great disease, that is the plague that will sweep away and destroy civilization; man will have to rise against it sooner or later.

A change of fortune hurts a wise man no more than a change of the moon.

People will not look forward to posterity who never look backward to their ancestors.

The future, like everything else, is no longer quite what it used to be.

Men are able to assist fortune but not to thwart her. They can weave her designs, but they cannot destroy them.

The future comes like an unwelcome guest.

Little folks become their little fate.

It would be madness, and inconsistency, to suppose that things which have never yet been performed can be performed without employing some hitherto untried means.

We must confess that at present the rich predominate, but the future will be for the virtuous and ingenious.

I don’t try to describe the future. I try to prevent it.

Destiny is not a matter of chance, it is a matter of choice; it is not a thing to be waited for, it is a thing to be achieved.

Real generosity toward the future lies in giving all to the present.