He that boasts of his ancestors confesses that he has no virtue of his own. No person ever lived for our honor; nor ought that to be reputed ours, which was long before we had a being; for what advantage can it be to a blind man to know that his parents had good eyes? Does he see one whit the better?

Gratitude is a duty none can be excused from, because it is always at our own disposal.

The true science and study of mankind is man.

All religions are pieced together out of elements which seem so at odds with reason that any intelligence laughs at them.

Great towns are but a large sort of prison to the soul; like cages to birds, or pounds to beasts.

Despair is like forward children, who, when you take away one of their playthings, throw the rest into the fire for madness. It grows angry with itself, turns its own executioner, and revenges its misfortunes on its own head.

Pleasure and pain, though directly opposite, are yet so contrived by nature as to be constant companions; and it is a fact that the same motions and muscles of the face are employed both in laughing and crying.