If god does not exist, one loses nothing by believing in him anyway, while if he does exist, one stands to lose everything by not believing.

We sail within a vast sphere, ever drifting in uncertainty, driven from end to end. When we think to attach ourselves to any pointand to fasten to it, it wavers and leaves us; and if we follow it, it eludes our grasp, slips past us, and vanishes for ever. Nothing stays for us.

All men naturally hate one another. I hold it a fact, that if men knew exactly what one says of the other, there would not be four friends in the world.

What are our natural principles but principles of custom?

If man should commence by studying himself, he would see how impossible it is to go further.

All men seek happiness. There are no exceptions.... This is the motive of every act of every man, including those who go and hang themselves.

The sum of a man's problems come from his inability to be alone in a silent room.