Force rules the world-not opinion; but it is opinion that makes use of force.

One of the greatest artifices the devil uses to engage men in vice and debauchery, is to fasten names of contempt on certain virtues, and thus fill weak souls with a foolish fear of passing for scrupulous, should they desire to put them in practice.

People almost invariably arrive at their beliefs not on the basis of proof but on the basis of what they find attractive.

I can approve of those only who seek in tears for happiness.

Those are weaklings who know the truth and uphold it as long as it suits their purpose, and then abandon it.

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

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