If a soldier or labourer complain of the hardship of his lot, set him to do nothing.

Generally we are occupied either with the miseries which now we feel, or with those which threaten; and even when we see ourselves sufficiently secure from the approach of either, still fretfulness, though unwarranted by either present or expected affliction, fails not to spring up from the deep recesses of the heart, where its roots naturally grow, and to fill the soul with its poison.

Curiosity is nothing more than vanity. More often than not we only seek knowledge to show it off.

Men never do evil so completely and cheerfully as when they do it from religious conviction.

Two things control men's nature, instinct and experience.

The state of man is inconstancy, ennui, anxiety.

It's not those who write the laws that have the greatest impact on society. It's those who write the songs.