A man shows his character just in the way in which he deals with trifles, for then he is off his guard.

Whatever torch we kindle, and whatever space it may illuminate, our horizon will always remain encircled by the depth of night.

The world is not a factory and animals are not products for our use

Faith is like love: it does not let itself be forced.

It would be better if there were nothing. Since there is more pain than pleasure on earth, every satisfaction is only transitory, creating new desires and new distresses, and the agony of the devoured animal is always far greater than the pleasure of the devourer

This world could not have been the work of an all-loving being, but that of a devil, who had brought creatures into existence in order to delight in the sight of their sufferings.

Just as a stream flows smoothly on as long as it encounters no obstruction, so the nature of man and animal is such that we never really notice or become conscious of what is agreeable to our will; if we are to notice something, our will has to have been thwarted, has to have experienced a shock of some kind.