"I am no theologian, or philosopher, or man of any denomination, of any sort whatever; consequently I am not at all bound to be right, and I can with honor confess that I was mistaken, whenever I am made to see it." "How did you manage to keep so many friends without making one enemy ?" he was asked in his old age.

"By means of two maxims," he answered: "Everything is possible; everybody may be right" (_tout le monde a raison_).

The friends of Fontenelle were moderate like himself; impressed with his fine qualities, they pardoned his lack of warmth in his affections.

"He never laughed," says Madame Geoffrin, his most intimate friend.

"I said to him one day, 'Did you ever laugh, M.de Fontenelle ?' 'No,' he answered; 'I never went ha! ha! ha!' That was his idea of laughing; he just smiled at smart things, but he was a stranger to any strong feeling.