God ceases to be God only for those who can admit the possibility of His non-existence, and that conception is in itself the most severe punishment they can suffer.

We ourselve are the authors of almost all our woes and griefs, of which we so unreasonably complain.

Praise the beautiful for their intelligence and the intelligent for their beauty.

They are the follies inherent to youth; I make sport of them, and, if you are kind, you will not yourself refuse them a good-natured smile.

The philosopher is a person who refuses no pleasures which do not produce greater sorrows, and who knows how to create new ones.

There is no such thing as destiny. We ourselves shape our lives.

Cheating is a sin, but honest cunning is simply prudence. It is a virtue. To be sure, it has a likeness to roguery, but that cannot be helped. He who has not learned to practice it is a fool.