Muhammad established a religion by putting his enemies to death; Jesus Christ by commanding his followers to lay down their lives.

Anyone who found the secret of rejoicing when things go well without being annoyed when they go badly would have found the point.

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

Let man reawake and consider what he is compared with the reality of things; regard himself lost in this remote corner of Nature; and from the tiny cell where he lodges, to wit the Universe, weigh at their true worth earth, kingdoms, towns, himself. What is a man face to face with infinity?

Bless yourself with holy water, have Masses said, and so on; by a simple and natural process this will make you believe, and will dull you - will quiet your proudly critical intellect.

The last advance of reason is to recognize that it is surpassed by innumerable things; it is feeble if it cannot realize that.

The sole cause of all human misery is the inability of people to sit quietly in their rooms.