Affectation hides three times as many virtues as charity does sins.

It would be more honourable to our distinguished ancestors to praise them in words less, but in deeds to imitate them more.

On entering this world our starting-point is ignorance. None, however, but idiots remain there.

He who cannot resist temptation is not a man. Whoever yields to temptation debases himself with a debasement from which he can never arise.

When will society, like a mother, take care of all her children?

It is well, when the wise and the learned discover new truths; but how much better to diffuse the truths already discovered, amongst the multitude! Every addition to true knowledge is an addition to human power; and while a philosopher is discovering one new truth, millions may be propagated amongst the people. Diffusion, then, rather than discovery, is the duty of our government.

Education must bring the practice as nearly as possible to the theory. As the children now are, so will the sovereigns soon be.