All I know is that I must soon die, but what I know least is this very death which I cannot escape.

Happiness can be found neither in ourselves nor in external things, but in God and in ourselves as united to him.

Sneezing absorbs all the functions of the soul just as much as the [sexual] act, but we do not draw from it the same conclusions against the greatness of man, because it is involuntary; although we bring it about, we do so involuntarily. It is not for the sake of the thing in itself but for another end, and is therefore not a sign of man's weakness, or his subjection to this act.

Evil is easily discovered; there is an infinite variety; good is almost unique. But some kinds of evil are almost as difficult to discover as that which we call good; and often particular evil of this class passes for good. It needs even a certain greatness of soul to attain to this, as to that which is good.

Unable to make what is just strong, we have made what is strong just.

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

It is natural for the mind to believe and for the will to love; so that, for want of true objects, they must attach themselves to false.