Nothing is so fortunate for mankind as its diversity of opinion.

doubts, like facts, are stubborn things.

It is amazing how much a thought expands and refines by being put into speech: I should think it could hardly know itself.

Confidence is its own security.

That which is always within our reach, is always the last thing we take; and the chances are, that what we can do every day, we never do at all.

to the many, witticisms not only require to be explained, like riddles, but are also like new shoes, which people require to wear many times before they get accustomed to them.

of all the follies that we can commit, the greatest is to hesitate.