Human life is thus only a perpetual illusion; men deceive and flatter each other. No one speaks of us in our presence as he does of us in our absence. Human society is founded on mutual deceit; few friendships would endure if each knew what his friend said of him in his absence, although he then spoke in sincerity and without passion.

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.

The truth about nature we discover with our brains. The truth about religion we discover with our hearts.

Each man is everything to himself, for with his death everything is dead for him. That is why each of us thinks he is everything to everyone. We must not judge nature by ourselves, but by its own standards.

No man ever believes with a true and saving faith unless God inclines his heart; and no man when God does incline his heart can refrain from believing.

When we see a natural style, we are astonished and charmed; for we expected to see an author, and we find a person.

Contradiction is not a sign of falsity, nor the lack of contradiction a sign of truth.