A book is made better by good readers and clearer by good opponents.

One hears but one does not seek; one takes -- one does not ask who gives; a thought flashes up like lightning, it comes of necessity and unfalteringly formed.

Man is more ape than many of the apes.

Good manners disappear in proportion as the influence of a Court and an exclusive aristocracy lessens; this decrease can be plainly observed from decade to decade by those who have an eye for public behavior, which grows visibly.

You never exist quite so much as when you are not thinking

Men who think deeply appear to be comedians in their dealings with others because they always have to feign superficiality in order to be understood.

Error has made animals into men; is truth in a position to make men into animals again?