If I am to serve as an instrument of deceit, at least let it be with a clear conscience. I do not want to be considered either so affectionate or so loyal a servant as to be found fit to betray anyone.

It is a sign of contraction of the mind when it is content, or of weariness. A spirited mind never stops within itself; it is always aspiring and going beyond its strength.

The laws of conscience, which we pretend to be derived from nature, proceed from Custom.

Live as long as you please, you will strike nothing off the time you will have to spend dead.

Of all our infirmities, the most savage is to despise our being.

Wine is the benevolent god, who gives back gaiety to men and restores youth to the old.

Among the liberal arts, let us begin with the art that liberates us.