Lying is a terrible vice, it testifies that one despises God, but fears men.

To honor him whom we have made is far from honoring him that hath made us.

Tortures are a dangerous invention, and seem to be a test of endurance rather than of truth.

When I was young, beautiful ancient statues were castrated, so that the eye might not be corrupted.... Nothing was gained, unless horses and asses had also been castrated.

There never were, in the world, two opinions alike, no more than two hairs, or two grains; the most universal quality is diversity.

Laws gain their authority from actual possession and custom: it is perilous to go back to their origins; laws, like our rivers, get greater and nobler as they roll along: follow them back upstream to their sources and all you find is a tiny spring, hardly recognizable; as time goes by it swells with pride and grows in strength.

Intelligence is required to be able to know that a man knows not.