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!

Oh! how near are genius and madness! Men imprison them and chain them, or raise statues to them.

A thing is not proved because no one has ever questioned it... Skepticism is the first step toward truth.

Superstition is more injurious to God than atheism.

The world is the house of the strong.

There is only one duty; that is to be happy.

Integrity is the evidence of all civil virtues.