The men of sense, the idols of the shallow, are very inferior to the men of passions. It is the strong passions which, rescuing us from sloth, impart to us that continuous and earnest attention necessary to great intellectual efforts.

Must we, under the happy hope of a false tranquility, sacrifice to the people in power the public welfare, and under vain pretence of preserving the peace, abandon the empire to robbers who would plunder it

To limit the press is to insult a nation; to prohibit reading of certain books is to declare the inhabitants to be either fools or slaves: such a prohibition ought to fill them with disdain.

A man who believes that he eats his God we do not call mad; yet, a man who says he is Jesus Christ, we call mad.

To be loved, we should merit but little esteem; all superiority attracts awe and aversion.

What makes men happy is liking what they have to do. This is a principle on which society is not founded

Truth is the torch that gleams through the fog without dispelling it.