To give aid to every poor man is far beyond the reach and power of every man. Care of the poor is incumbent on society as a whole.

Philosophers conceive of the passions which harass us as vices into which men fall by their own fault, and, therefore, generally deride, bewail, or blame them, or execrate them, if they wish to seem unusually pious.

He who seeks equality between unequals seeks an absurdity.

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.

Ambition is the immoderate desire for honor.

The highest activity a human being can attain is learning for understanding, because to understand is to be free.

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