The multitude which is not brought to act as a unity, is confusion. That unity which has not its origin in the multitude is tyranny.

Nothing is so intolerable to man as being fully at rest, without a passion, without business, without entertainment, without care.

The sensitivity of men to small matters, and their indifference to great ones, indicates a strange inversion.

Something incomprehensible is not for that reason less real.

When I have occasionally set myself to consider the different distractions of men, the pains and perils to which they expose themselves I have discovered that all the unhappiness of men arises from one single fact, that they cannot stay quietly in their own chamber.

The majority is the best way, because it is visible, and has strength to make itself obeyed. Yet it is the opinion of the least able.

Those who are accustomed to judge by feeling do not understand the process of reasoning, because they want to comprehend at a glance and are not used to seeking for first principles. Those, on the other hand, who are accustomed to reason from first principles do not understand matters of feeling at all, because they look for first principles and are unable to comprehend at a glance.