The world is ruled by force, not by opinion; but opinion uses force.

Contradiction is not a sign of falsity, nor the lack of contradiction a sign of truth.

Truly it is an evil to be full of faults; but it is a still greater evil to be full of them and to be unwilling to recognize them, since that is to add the further fault of a voluntary illusion.

Happiness is neither within us, nor without us. It is in the union of ourselves with God.

To make a man a saint, it must indeed be by grace; and whoever doubts this does not know what a saint is, or a man.

We know truth, not only by the reason, but also by the heart.

The immortality of the soul is a matter which is of so great consequence to us and which touches us so profoundly that we must have lost all feeling to be indifferent about it.