The golden age, when rambunctious spirits were regarded as the source of evil.

The finest and healthiest thing about science is, as in the mountains, the brisk air blowing around in it.--The spiritually delicate (such as artists) shun and slander science owing to this air.

Every tradition grows continually more venerable, and the more remote its origins, the more this is lost sight of. The veneration paid the tradition accumulates from generation to generation, until it at last becomes holy and excites awe.

I am one thing, my writings are another.

One should not go into churches if one wants to breathe pure air.

There is an innocence in lying which is the sign of good faith in a cause.

All good things were formerly bad things; every original sin has turned into an original virtue.