Religions are the cradles of despotism.

I assumed that everything must yield to me, that the entire universe had to flatter my whims, and that I had the right to satisfy them at will.

It is not my mode of thought that has caused my misfortunes, but the mode of thought of others.

Happiness is ideal, it is the work of the imagination.

The primary and most beautiful of nature's qualities is motion

Conspiracy! Intrigue! A rapidly thickening plot! Add some bestiality and a lecherous priest and I'd say you have the beginnings of a beautiful novel.

Cruelty, very far from being a vice, is the first sentiment Nature injects in us all.