Matters of religion should never be matters of controversy. We neither argue with a lover about his taste, nor condemn him, if we are just, for knowing so human a passion.

Manhood and sagacity ripen of themselves; it suffices not to repress or distort them.

The works of nature first acquire a meaning in the commentaries they provoke.

The God to whom depth in philosophy bring back men's minds is far from being the same from whom a little philosophy estranges them

For an idea ever to be fashionable is ominous, since it must afterwards be always old fashioned

To attempt to be religious without practicing a specific religion is as possible as attempting to speak without a specific language.

The idea of Christ is much older than Christianity.