Ever since the invention of gunpowder.. I continually tremble lest men should, in the end, uncover some secret which would provide a short way of abolishing mankind, of annihilating peoples and nations in their entirety.

The life of man is but a succession of vain hopes and groundless fears.

It is requisite the government be so constituted as one man need not be afraid of another.

Luxury ruins republics; poverty, monarchies.

Raillery is a mode of speaking in favor of one's wit at the expense of one's better nature.

If I knew something that would serve my country but would harm mankind, I would never reveal it; for I am a citizen of humanity first and by necessity, and a citizen of France second, and only by accident

The English are busy folk; they have no time in which to be polite.