 Of all religions, the Christian should of course inspire the most tolerance, but until now Christians have been the most intolerant of all men. |
| We cannot always oblige; but we can always speak obligingly. |
| Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities. |
| The art of government is to make two-thirds of a nation pay all it possibly can pay for the benefit of the other third. |
| Is there anyone so wise as to learn by the experience of others? |
| He is a hard man who is only just, and a sad one who is only wise. |
| It is not known precisely where angels dwell whether in the air, the void, or the planets. It has not been God's pleasure that we should be informed of their abode. |
| This self-love is the instrument of our preservation; it resembles the provision for the perpetuity of mankind: it is necessary, it is dear to us, it gives us pleasure, and we must conceal it. |
| We never live; we are always in the expectation of living. |
| Society therefore is an ancient as the world. |
| One great use of words is to hide our thoughts. |
| If there were no God, it would be necessary to invent him. |
| Man is free at the moment he wishes to be. |
| It is vain for the coward to flee; death follows close behind; it is only by defying it that the brave escape. |
| If God did not exist, it would be necessary to invent Him. |
| I have only ever made one prayer to God, a very short one: O Lord, make my enemies ridiculous. And God granted it. |
| Common sense is not so common. |
| The sovereign is called a tyrant who knows no laws but his caprice. |
| Optimism is the madness of insisting that all is well when we are miserable. |
| Each player must accept the cards life deals him or her: but once they are in hand, he or she alone must decide how to play the cards in order to win the game. |
