The fact of having been born is a bad augury for immortality.

The constant demands of the heart and the belly can allow man only an incidental indulgence in the pleasures of the eye and the understanding.

At best, the true philosopher can fulfil his mission very imperfectly, which is to pilot himself, or at most a few voluntary companions who may find themselves in the same boat.

Never build your emotional life on the weaknesses of others.

Friendship is almost always the union of a part of one mind with the part of another; people are friends in spots.

I like to walk about amidst the beautiful things that adorn the world.

Most men's conscience, habits, and opinions are borrowed from convention and gather continually comforting assurances from the same social consensus that originally suggested them.