The main purpose of life is to live rightly, think rightly, act rightly. The soul must languish when we give all our thought to the body.

We do not know whether it is good to live or to die. Therefore, we should not take delight in living, nor should we tremble at the thought of death. We should be equiminded towards death. This is the ideal. It may be long before we reach it, and only a few of us can attain it. Even then, we must keep it constantly in view, and the more difficult it seems of attainment, the greater should be the effort we put forth.

It is simple impertinence for any man, or any body of men, to begin, or to contemplate, reform of the whole world.

Truth alone will endure, all the rest will be swept away before the tide of time.

Destruction is not the law of humans. Man lives freely only by his readiness to die, if need be, at the hands of his brother, never by killing him. Every murder or other injury, no matter for what cause, committed or inflicted on another is a crime against humanity.

We are less than atoms, I say, because the atom obeys the law of its being, whereas we in the insolence of our ignorance deny the law of nature. But I have no argument to address to those who have no faith.

In any case, the fear of subservience is quite imaginary.