To many people virtue consists chiefly in repenting faults, not in avoiding them.

To read means to borrow; to create out of one s readings is paying off one's debts.

There exists a species of transcendental ventriloquism by means of which men can be made to believe that something said on earth comes from Heaven.

The "second sight" possessed by the Highlanders in Scotland is actually a foreknowledge of future events. I believe they possess this gift because they don't wear trousers.

As nations improve, so do their gods.

Everyone is a genius at least once a year. The real geniuses simply have their bright ideas closer together.

Man…who lives in three places – in the past, in the present, and in the future – can be unhappy if one of these three is worthless. Religion has even added a fourth – eternity.