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!

If there are one hundred thousand damned souls for one saved soul, the devil has always the advantage without having given up his son to death.

They mistake the first manifestations of a developing sexual nature for the voice of God calling them to Himself; and it is precisely when nature is inciting them that they embrace a fashion of life contrary to nature's wish.

A nation which thinks that it is belief in God and not good law which makes people honest does not seem to me very advanced.

Posterity for the philosopher is what the other world is for the religious man.

Doctors are always working to preserve our health and cooks to destroy it, but the latter are the more often successful.

Scepticism is the first step toward truth.