In the state of nature, wrong-doing is impossible; or, if anyone does wrong, it is to himself, not to another. For no one by the law of nature is bound to please another, unless he chooses, nor to hold anything to be good or evil, but what he himself, according to his own temperament, pronounces to be so; and, to speak generally, nothing is forbidden by the law of nature, except what is beyond everyone's power.

Men govern nothing with more difficulty than their tongues, and can moderate their desires more than their words.

Fame has also this great drawback, that if we pursue it, we must direct our lives so as to please the fancy of men.

A miracle signifies nothing more than an event... the cause of which cannot be explained by another familiar instance, or.... which the narrator is unable to explain.

Academies that are founded at public expense are instituted not so much to cultivate men's natural abilities as to restrain them.

The mind has greater power over the emotions, and is less subject thereto, insofar as it understands all things to be necessary.

the ultimate aim of government is not to rule, or restrain by fear, nor to exact obedience, but to free every man from fear that he may live in all possible security... In fact the true aim of government is liberty.