People who feel themselves to be exiles in this world are mightily inclined to believe themselves citizens of another.

My atheism, like that of Spinoza, is true piety towards the universe and denies only gods fashioned by men in their own image, to be servants of their human interests.

It would hardly be possible to exaggerate man's wretchedness if it were not so easy to overestimate his sensibility

If all art aspires to the condition of music, all the sciences aspire to the condition of mathematics.

Reason and happiness are like other flowers; they wither when plucked.

Animals are born and bred in litters. Solitude grows blessed and peaceful only in old age.

It is possible to be a master in false philosophy, easier, in fact, than to be a master in the truth, because a false philosophy can be made as simple and consistent as one pleases.