For peace is not mere absence of war, but is a virtue that springs from force of character: for obedience is the constant will to execute what, by the general decree of the commonwealth, ought to be done.

Desire is the essence of a man.

Reality and perfection are synonymous.

The mind can only imagine anything, or remember what is past, while the body endures.

Care of the poor is incumbent on society as a whole.

Yet nature cannot be contravened, but preserves a fixed and immutable order.

The safest way for a state is to lay down the rule that religion is comprised solely in the exercise of charity and justice, and that the rights of rulers in sacred, no less than in secular matters, should merely have to do with actions, but that every man should think what he likes and say what he thinks.