Life was given to me as a favor, so I may abandon it when it is one no longer.

The love of study is in us the only lasting passion. All the others quit us in proportion as this miserable machine which holds them approaches its ruins.

Wonderful maxim: not to talk of things any more after they are done.

The alms given to a naked man in the street do not fulfil the obligations of the state, which owes to every citizen a certain subsistence, a proper nourishment, convenient clothing, and a kind of life not incompatible with health.

Friendship is an arrangement by which we undertake to exchange small favors for big ones.

There are three species of government: republican, monarchical, and despotic.

What unhappy beings men are! They constantly waver between false hopes and silly fears, and instead of relying on reason they create monsters to frighten themselves with, and phantoms which lead them astray.