Human infirmity in moderating and checking the emotions I name bondage : for, when a man is a prey to his emotions, he is not his own master, but lies at the mercy of fortune : so much so, that he is often compelled, while seeing that which is better for him, to follow that which is worse.

. . . to know the order of nature, and regard the universe as orderly is the highest function of the mind.

The greatest good is the knowledge of the union which the mind has with the whole nature.

Nature has no goal in view, and final causes are only human imaginings.

If you want the present to be different from the past, study the past.

Love or hatred towards a thing, which we conceive to be free, must, other things being similar, be greater than if it were felt towards a thing acting by necessity.

Laws which prescribe what everyone must believe, and forbid men to say or write anything against this or that opinion, are often passed to gratify, or rather to appease the anger of those who cannot abide independent minds.