To be sane in a world of madman is in itself madness.

To write a good love letter, you ought to begin without knowing what you mean to say, and to finish without knowing what you have written.

Ordinary readers, forgive my paradoxes: one must make them when one reflects; and whatever you may say, I prefer being a man with paradoxes than a man with prejudices.

Never exceed your rights, and they will soon become unlimited.

Conscience is the voice of the soul, the passions are the voice of the body. Is it astonishing that often these two languages contradict each other, and then to which must we listen? Too often reason deceives us; we have only too much acquired the right of refusing to listen to it; but conscience never deceives us; it is the true guide of man; it is to man what instinct is to the body; which follows it, obeys nature, and never is afraid of going astray.

The writings of women are always cold and pretty like themselves. There is as much wit as you may desire, but never any soul.

He thinks like a philosopher, but governs like a king.