Atheism. There is not a single exalting and emancipating influence that does not in turn become inhibitory.

Clear and precise ideas are the most dangerous, for one does not dare to change them.

I have no use for knowledge that has not been preceded by a sensation

Society knows perfectly well how to kill a man and has methods more subtle than death

Chastity more rarely follows fear, or a resolution, or a vow, than it is the mere effect of lack of appetite and, sometimes even, of distaste.

Sin is whatever obscures the soul.

It is not always by plugging away at a difficulty and sticking to it that one overcomes it; often it is by working on the one next to it. Some things and some people have to be approached obliquely, at an angle.