We do not condemn it because it is a crime, but it is a crime because we condemn it.

The term suicide is applied to all cases of death resulting directly or indirectly from a positive or negative act of the victim himself, which he knows will produce this result

A religion is a unified system of beliefs and practices relative to sacred things, that is to say, things set apart and forbidden-beliefs and practices which unite into one single moral community called a Church, all those who adhere to them.

When mores are sufficient, laws are unnecessary. When mores are insufficient, laws are unenforceable.

A society whose members are united by the fact that they think in the same way in regard to the sacred world and its relations with the profane world, and by the fact that they translate these common ideas into common practices, is what is called a Church. In all history, we do not find a single religion without a Church.

Each new generation is reared by its predecessor; the latter must therefore improve in order to improve its successor. The movement is circular.

If religion has given birth to all that is essential in society, it is because the idea of society is the soul of religion.