The human face is a weak guarantee; yet it deserves some consideration. And if I had to whip the wicked, I would do so more severely to those who belied and betrayed the promises that nature had implanted on their brows; I would punish malice more harshly when it was hidden under a kindly appearance.

Custom is a violent and treacherous school mistress. She, by little and lithe, slyly and unperceived, slips in the foot of her authority; but having by this gentle and humble beginning, with the benefit of time, fixed and established it, she then unmasks a furious and tyrannic countenance, against which we have no more the courage or the power so much as to lift up our eyes.

Speech belongs half to the speaker, half to the listener. The latter must prepare to receive it according to the motion it takes.

To philosophize is to doubt.

Rejoice in the things that are present; all else is beyond thee.

Things seem greater by imagination than they are in effect.

Our religion is made to eradicate vices, instead it encourages them, covers them, and nurtures them.