Man could not live if he were entirely impervious to sadness. Many sorrows can be endured only by being embraced, and the pleasure taken in them naturally has a somewhat melancholy character.

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

When man discovered the mirror, he began to lose his soul.

There is no sociology worthy of the name which does not possess a historical character.

It is science, and not religion, which has taught men that things are complex and difficult to understand.

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

One does not advance when one walks toward no goal, or - which is the same thing - when his goal is infinity.