There is less harm to be suffered in being mad among madmen than in being sane all by oneself.

My friend, you should blow out your candle in order to find your way more clearly.

I have not the hope of being immortal, because the desire of it has not given me that vanity.

The arbitrary rule of a just and enlightened prince is always bad. His virtues are the most dangerous and the surest form of seduction: they lull a people imperceptibly into the habit of loving, respecting, and serving his successor, whoever that successor may be, no matter how wicked or stupid.

All children are essentially criminal.

It is said that desire is a product of the will, but the converse is in fact true: will is a product of desire.

But if you will recall the history of our civil troubles, you will see half the nation bathe itself, out of piety, in the blood of the other half, and violate the fundamental feelings of humanity in order to sustain the cause of God: as though it were necessary to cease to be a man in order to prove oneself religious!