Nature's instructions are always slow; those of men are generally premature.
The universe was born restless and has never since been still.
The happiest is he who suffers the least pain; the most miserable, he who enjoys the least pleasure.
The severity of penalties is only a vain resource, invented by little minds in order to substitute terror for that respect which they have no means of obtaining.
Nothing makes me so happy as to observe nature and to paint what I see.
Luxury... corrupts at once rich and poor, the rich by possession and the poor by covetousness.