Since [man] is infinitely removed from comprehending the extremes, the end of things and their beginning are hopelessly hidden from him in an impenetrable secret; he is equally incapable of seeing the nothing from which he was made, and the infinite in which he is swallowed up.

Even those who write against fame wish for the fame of having written well, and those who read their works desire the fame of having read them.

The statements of atheists ought to be perfectly clear of doubt. Now it is not perfectly clear that the soul is material.

I cannot judge my work while I am doing it. I have to do as painters do, stand back and view it from a distance, but not too great a distance. How great? Guess.

Things are always at their best in their beginning.

What a difficult thing it is to ask someone's advice on a matter without coloring his judgment by the way in which we present our problem.

Let each of us examine his thoughts