A man finds no sweeter voice in all the world than that which chants his praise.

Women react differently: a French woman who sees herself betrayed by her husband will kill his mistress; an Italian will kill her husband; a Spaniard will kill both; and a German will kill herself.

I shall leave the world without regret, for it hardly contains a single good listener.

A true philosopher is like an elephant; he never puts the second foot down until the first one is solidly in place.

As astronomy is the daughter of idleness, geometry is the daughter of property.

Since the princes take the Earth for their own, it's fair that the philosophers reserve the sky for themselves and rule there, but they should never permit the entry of others.

Nothing can be more destructive to ambition, and the passion for conquest, than the true system of astronomy. What a poor thing is even the whole globe in comparison of the infinite extent of nature!