The Christian religion teaches us to imitate a God that is cruel, insidious, jealous, and implacable in his wrath.

Those who fear the facts will forever try to discredit the fact-finders.

What has not been examined impartially has not been well examined. Skepticism is therefore the first step towards truth.

One may demand of me that I should seek truth, but not that I should find it

The most dangerous madmen are those created by religion, and people whose aim is to disrupt society always know how to make good use of them on occasion.

I am more affected by the attractions of virtue than by the deformities of vice; I turn gently away from the wicked and I fly to meet the good. If there is in a literary work, in a character, in a picture, in a statue, a beautiful spot, that is where my eyes rest; I see only that, I remember only that, all the rest is well-nigh forgotten. What becomes of me when the whole work is beautiful!

No man has received from nature the right to give orders to others. Freedom is a gift from heaven, and every individual of the same species has the right to enjoy it as soon as he is in enjoyment of his reason.