Every principle is a judgment, every judgment the outcome of experience, and experience is only acquired by the exercise of the senses . . .

We are no guiltier in following the primative impulses that govern us than is the Nile for her floods or the sea for her waves.

Destruction, hence, like creation, is one of Nature's mandates.

The impossibility of outraging nature is the greatest anguish man can know.

Were he supreme, were he mighty, were he just, were he good, this God you tell me about, would it be through enigmas and buffooneries he would wish to teach me to serve and know him?

Are not laws dangerous which inhibit the passions? Compare the centuries of anarchy with those of the strongest legalism in any country you like and you will see that it is only when the laws are silent that the greatest actions appear.

The more defects a man may have, the older he is, the less lovable, the more resounding his success.