I have always thought that if we began for one moment to say what we thought, society would collapse.

Nature wants us to enjoy life to the full and die without giving it a second thought; Christianity wants the opposite.

Nothing is more painful to me than the disdain with which people treat second-rate authors, as if there were room only for the first-raters.

I have always thought that if we began for one moment to say what we thought, society would collapse.

What signifies the ladder, provided one rise and attain the end?

Since it is necessary to have enemies, let us endeavour to have those who do us honour.

Most celebrated men live in a condition of prostitution.