The believer in magic and miracles reflects on how to impose a law on nature--: and, in brief, the religious cult is the outcome of this reflection.

A refined nature is vexed by knowing that some one owes it thanks, a coarse nature by knowing that it owes thanks to some one.

Society tames the wolf into a dog. And man is the most domesticated animal of all.

What is bad? All that proceeds from weakness

Great intellects are skeptical.

The public easily confuses him who fishes in troubled waters with him who draws up water from the depths.

There are horrible people who, instead of solving a problem, tangle it up and make it harder to solve for anyone who wants to deal with it. Whoever does not know how to hit the nail on the head should be asked not to hit it at all.