Only the history of free peoples is worth our attention; the history of men under a despotism is merely a collection of anecdotes.

Man may aspire to virtue, but he cannot reasonably aspire to truth.

Most of those who make collections of verse or epigram are like men eating cherries or oysters: they choose out the best at first, and end by eating all.

One can be certain that every generally held idea, every received notion, will be idiocy because it has been able to appeal to the majority

Most benefactors are like unskillful generals who take the city and leave the citadel intact.

Nearly all men are slaves for the same reason that the Spartans assigned for the servitude of the Persians -- lack of power to pronounce the syllable, "No." To be able to utter that word and live alone, are the only means to preserve one's freedom and one's character.

It is when their age of passions is past that great men produce their masterpieces, just as it is after volcanic eruptions that the soil is most fertile.