There is the name and the thing; the name is a sound which sets a mark on and denotes the thing. The name is no part of the thing nor of the substance; it is an extraneous piece added to the thing, and outside of it.

Every period of life has its peculiar prejudices; whoever saw old age, that did not applaud the past, and condemn the present times?

Every other knowledge is harmful to him who does not have knowledge of goodness.

Most men are rich in borrowed sufficiency: a man may very well say a good thing, give a good answer, cite a good sentence, without at all seeing the force of either the one or the other.

There is no desire more natural than the desire of knowledge. (Il n'est desir plus naturel que le desir de connaissance)

Presumption is our natural and original malady. The most vulnerable and frail of all creatures is man, and at the same time the most arrogant.

I neither complain of the past, nor do I fear the future.