Man is equally incapable of seeing the nothingness from which he emerges and the infinity in which he is engulfed.

Most of man's trouble comes from his inability to be still.

True eloquence scorns eloquence.

The origins of disputes between philosophers is, that one class of them have undertaken to raise man by displaying his greatness, and the other to debase him by showing his miseries.

What a chimera then is man. What a novelty! What a monster... what a contradiction, what a prodigy

Without the knowledge of our wretchedness, the knowledge of God creates pride. With it, the knowledge of God creates despair. The knowledge of Christ offers a third way, because in him we find both God and our wretchedness.

Rivers are roads which move, and which carry us whither we desire to go.