The recognition of virtue is not less valuable from the lips of the man who hates it, since truth forces him to acknowledge it; and though he may be unwilling to take it into his inmost soul, he at least decks himself out in its trappings.

There is no man so good, who, were he to submit all his thoughts and actions to the laws, would not deserve hanging ten times in his life.

He that I am reading seems always to have the most force.

A hair shirt does not always render those chaste who wear it.

I determine nothing; I do not comprehend things; I suspend judgment; I examine.

Nature is a gentle guide, but not more sweet and gentle than prudent and just.

No man is exempt from saying silly things; the mischief is to say them deliberately.