We are so presumptuous that we wish to be known to all the world, even to those who come after us; and we are so vain that the esteem of five or six persons immediately around us is enough to amuse and satisfy us.

And is it not obvious that, just as it is a crime to disturb the peace when truth reigns, it is also a crime to remain at peace when the truth is being destroyed?

If god does not exist, one loses nothing by believing in him anyway, while if he does exist, one stands to lose everything by not believing.

Thought makes the whole dignity of man; therefore endeavor to think well, that is the only morality.

The greater intellect one has, the more originality one finds in men. Ordinary persons find no difference between men.

Lord, help me to do great things as though they were little, since I do them with your power; And little things as though they were great, since I do them in your name!

No one is ignorant that there are two avenues by which opinions are received into the soul, which are its two principal powers: the understanding and the will.