You can purchase the mind of Pascal for a crown. Pleasures even cheaper are sold to those who give themselves up to them. It is only luxuries and objects of caprice that are rare and difficult to obtain; unfortunately they are the only things that touch the curiosity and taste of ordinary men.

There does not exist a man sufficiently intelligent never to be tiresome.

Children are taught to fear and obey; the avarice, pride, or timidity of parents teaches children economy, arrogance, or submission. They are also encouraged to be imitators, a course to which they are already only too much inclined. No one thinks of making them original, courageous, independent.

To withdraw ourselves from the law of the strong, we have found ourselves obliged to submit to justice. Justice or might, we must choose between these two masters.

We must expect everything and fear everything from time and from men.

We often quarrel with the unfortunate to get rid of pitying them.

Some authors regard morality in the same light as we regard modern architecture. Convenience is the first thing to be looked for.