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.

If these Essays were worthy of being judged, it might fall out, in my opinion, that they would not find much favour, either with common and vulgar minds, or with uncommon and eminent ones: the former would not find enough in them, the latter would find too much; they might manage to live somewhere in the middle region.

To compose our character is our duty, not to compose books, and to win, not battles and provinces, but order and tranquillity in our conduct.

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

I listen with attention to the judgment of all men; but so far as I can remember, I have followed none but my own.

He who is not sure of his memory, should not undertake the trade of lying.

Memory is a wonderfully useful tool, and without it judgement does its work with difficulty; it is entirely lacking in me.... Now,the more I distrust my memory, the more confused it becomes. It serves me better by chance encounter; I have to solicit it nonchalantly. For if I press it, it is stunned; and once it has begun to totter, the more I probe it, the more it gets mixed up and embarrassed. It serves me at its own time, not at mine.