He thinks he believes only what he sees, but he is much better at believing than at seeing.

Tolerated people are never conciliated. They live on, but the aroma of their life is lost.

There is nothing sacred about convention; there is nothing sacred about primitive passions or whims; but the fact that a convention exists indicates that a way of living has been devised capable of maintaining itself.

To condemn spontaneous and delightful occupations because they are useless for self-preservation shows an uncritical prizing of life irrespective of its content.

Philosophers are as jealous as women; each wants a monopoly of praise.

To be happy you must have taken the measure of your powers, tasted the fruits of your passion, and learned your place in the world.

It is a revenge the devil sometimes takes upon the virtuous, that he entraps them by the force of the very passion they have suppressed and think themselves superior to.