It was the full conviction of this, and of what could be done, if every man were placed in the office for which he was fitted by nature and a proper education, which first suggested to me the plan of Illumination.

A Literary Society is the most proper form for the introduction of our Order into any state where we are yet strangers.

The most wonderful thing of all is that the distinguished Lutheran and Calvinist theologians who belong to our order really believe that they see in it (Illuminati) the true and genuine sense of Christian Religion. Oh mortal man, is there anything you cannot be made to believe?

The hankering of the mind is irresistible.

I did not bring Deism into Bavaria more than into Rome. I found it here, in great vigour, more abounding than in any of the neighboring Protestant States. I am proud to be known to the world as the founder of the Illuminati.

Of all the means I know to lead men, the most effectual is a concealed mystery.

When man lives under government, he is fallen, his worth is gone, and his nature tarnished.