The love of one sole being is a barbarism; for it will be employed to the detriment of all the rest. So too the love of God.

The priest knows, as every one knows, that there is no longer any "God," or any "sinner," or any "Saviour" that "free will" and the "moral order of the world" are lies : serious reflection, the profound self conquest of the spirit, allow no man to pretend that he does not know it.

Inaction, letting be, neither creating nor destroying--that is my evil. And also the knower as one without desire.

Good deeds shun the light as anxiously as evil deeds: the latter fear that disclosure will bring on pain (as punishment), while the former fear that disclosure will take away pleasure (that pure pleasure, that pleasure per se, which immediately ceases once the vanity's satisfaction is added).

The shortest route is not the most direct one, but rather the one where the most favorable winds swell our sails:Mthat is the lesson that seafarers teach. Not to abide by this lesson is to be obstinate: here, firmness of character is tainted with stupidity.

The great advantage in noble parentage is that enables one to endure poverty more easily.

Even today a crude sort of persecution is all that is required to create an honorable name for any sect, no matter how indifferent in itself.