The authority of reason is far more imperious than that of a master; for he who disobeys the one is unhappy, but he who disobeys the other is a fool.

All men have happiness as their object: there is no exception. However different the means they employ, they all aim at the same end.

The Christian religion teaches me two points-that there is a God whom men can know, and that their nature is so corrupt that they are unworthy of Him.

It is not in Montaigne, but in myself, that I find all that I see in him.

No soul of high estate can take pleasure in slander. It betrays a weakness.

When we do not know the truth of a thing, it is good that there should exist a common error which determines the mind of man, as, for example, the moon, to which is attributed the change of seasons, the progress of diseases, etc. For the chief malady of man is a restless curiosity about things which he cannot understand; and it is not so bad for him to be in error as to be curious to no purpose.

Perfect clarity would profit the intellect but damage the will.