Every man takes the limits of his own field of vision for the limits of the world.

To desire immortality is to desire the eternal perpetuation of a great mistake

(Politeness is) a tacit agreement that people's miserable defects, whether moral or intellectual, shall on either side be ignored and not be made the subject of reproach.

If we were not all so interested in ourselves, life would be so uninteresting that none of us would be able to endure it.

The little honesty that exists among authors is discernible in the unconscionable way they misquote from the writings of others.

The tallest oak tree once was an acorn that any pig could have swallowed.

There are two things which make it impossible to believe that this world is the successful work of an all-wise, all-good, and at the same time, all-powerful being; firstly, the misery which abounds in it everywhere; and secondly, the obvious imperfection of its highest product, man, who is a burlesque of what he should be.