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.

Reason is the slow and torturous method by which those who do not know the truth discover it

Man is so made that by continually telling him he is a fool he believes it, and by continually telling it to himself he makes himself believe it. For man holds an inward talk with himself, which it pays him to regulate.

Plurality which is not reduced to unity is confusion; unity which does not depend on plurality is tyranny.

Education produces natural intuitions, and natural intuitions are erased by education.

To doubt is a misfortune, but to seek when in doubt is an indispensable duty. So he who doubts and seeks not is at once unfortunate and unfair.

Desire and force between them are responsible for all our actions; desire causes our voluntary acts, force our involuntary.