There is no right government except good government.

Perhaps the only true dignity of man is his capacity to despise himself.

The tide of evolution carries everything before it, thoughts no less than bodies, and persons no less than nations.

Intolerance is a form of egotism, and to condemn egotism intolerantly is to share it.

I like to walk about among the beautiful things that adorn the world; but private wealth I should decline, or any sort of personal possessions, because they would take away my liberty.

It is pathetic to observe how lowly the motives are that religion, even the highest, attributes to the deity... To be given the best morsel, to be remembered, to be praised, to be obeyed blindly and punctiliously - these have been thought points of honor with the gods.

Intelligence is quickness in seeing things as they are.