All intelligent thoughts have already been thought; what is necessary is only to try to think them again.

Beauty is a manifestation of secret natural laws, which otherwise would have been hidden from us forever.

I believe in God and in nature and in the triumph of good over evil.

It would not be worth your while to reach the age of seventy if all the wisdom of the world were to be foolishness before God.

Ill-humor is nothing more than an inward feeling of our own want of merit, a dissatisfaction with ourselves which is always united with an envy that foolish vanity excites.

I never knew a more presumptuous person than myself. The fact that I say that shows that what I say is true.

Begin by instructing yourself, then you will receive instruction from others.