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

It is very easy to accuse a government of imperfection, for all mortal things are full of it.

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.

Those sciences which govern the morals of mankind, such as Theology and Philosophy, make everything their concern: no activity is so private or so secret as to escape their attention or their jurisdiction.

In plain truth, lying is an accursed vice. We are not men, nor have any other tie upon another, but by our word.

Nature should have been pleased to have made this age miserable, without making it also ridiculous.

All passions that suffer themselves to be relished and digested are but moderate.