There is a very remarkable inclination in human nature to bestow on external objects the same emotions which it observes in itself, and to find every where those ideas which are most present to it.

The life of man is of no greater importance to the universe than that of an oyster.

If the religious spirit be ever mentioned in any historical narration, we are sure to meet afterwards with a detail of the miseries which attend it. And no period of time can be happier or more prosperous, than those in which it is never regarded or heard of.

Eloquence, when in its highest pitch, leaves little room for reason or reflection.

Be a philosopher but, amid all your philosophy be still a man.

Virtue, like wholesome food, is better than poisons, however corrected.

The rules of morality are not the conclusion of our reason.