In a well governed state, there are few punishments, not because there are many pardons, but because criminals are rare; it is when a state is in decay that the multitude of crimes is a gaurantee of impunity.

Do I dare set forth here the most important, the most useful rule of all education? It is not to save time, but to squander it.

Whoever blushes confesses guilt, true innocence never feels shame.

Once you teach people to say what they do not understand, it is easy enough to get them to say anything you like. v One could wish no easier death than that of Socrates, calmly discussing philosophy with his friends; one could fear nothing worse than that of Jesus, dying in torment, among the insults, the mockery, the curses of the whole nation. In the midst of these terrible sufferings, Jesus prays for his cruel murderers. Yes, if the life and death of Socrates are those of a philosopher, the life and death of Christ are those of a God.

Nature wants children to be children before men... Childhood has its own seeing, thinking and feeling.

What good would it be to possess the whole universe if one were its only survivor?

That man is truly free who desires what he is able to perform, and does what he desires.