The infliction of cruelty with a good conscience is a delight to moralists - that is why they invented hell.

The world is full of magical things patiently waiting for our wits to grow sharper.

Men fear thought as they fear nothing else on earth - more than ruin, more even than death. Thought is subversive and revolutionary, destructive and terrible, thought is merciless to privilege, established institutions, and comfortable habits; thought is anarchic and lawless, indifferent to authority, careless of the well-tried wisdom of the ages. Thought looks into the pit of hell and is not afraid ... Thought is great and swift and free, the light of the world, and the chief glory of man.

The saviors of the world, society's last hope.

Curious learning not only makes unpleasant things less unpleasant but also makes pleasant things more pleasant.

Undoubtedly the desire for food has been and still is one of the main causes of political events.

I believe myself that romantic love is the source of the most intense delights that life has to offer. In the relation of a man and woman who love each other with passion and imagination and tenderness, there is something of inestimable value, to be ignorant of which is a great misfortune to any human being.