Man is a willful and covetous animal, who makes use of his intellect to satisfy his inclinations, but who cares nothing for truth, who rebels against personal discipline, who hates disinterested thought and the idea of self-education. Wisdom offends him, because it rouses in him disturbance and confusion, and because he will not see himself as he is.

Doubt of the reality of love ends by making us doubt everything.

Latent genius is but a presumption. Everything that can be, is bound to come into being, and what never comes into being is nothing.

The test of every religious, political, or educational system, is the man which it forms. If a system injures the intelligence it is bad. If it injures the character it is vicious. If it injures the conscience it is criminal.

Our duty is to be useful, not according to our desires but according to our powers.

Sympathy is the first condition of criticism; reason and justice presuppose, at their origin, emotion.

Before crime is committed conscience must be corrupted, and every bad man who succeeds in reaching a high point of wickedness begins with this.