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

Men do not know the natural infirmity of their mind: it does nothing but ferret and quest, and keeps incessantly whirling around, building up and becoming entangled in its own work, like silkworms, and is suffocated in it. A mouse in a pitch barrel...thinks it notices from a distance some sort of glimmer of imaginary light and truth; but while running toward it, it is crossed by so many difficulties and obstacles, and diverted by so many new quests, that it strays from the road, bewildered.

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.

The utility of living consists not in the length of days, but in the use of time; a man may have lived long, and yet lived but a little.

Intemperance is the plaque of sensuality, and temperance is not its bane but its seasoning.

Every movement reveals us.

No man profiteth but by the loss of others.