The villagers seldom leave the village; many scientists have limited and poorly cultivated minds apart from their specialty.

To wish to escape from solitude is cowardice. Friendship is not to be sought, not to be dreamed, not to be desired; it is to be exercised (it is a virtue).

Beauty captivates the flesh in order to obtain permission to pass right through to the soul. . . . When the feeling for beauty happens to be associated with the sight of some human being, the transference of love is made possible, at any rate in an illusory manner. But it is all the beauty of the world, it is universal beauty, for which we yearn.

There are two atheisms of which one is a purification of the notion of God.

The highest ecstasy is the attention at its fullest.

The notion of obligations comes before that of rights, which is subordinate and relative to the former. A right is not effectual by itself, but only in relation to the obligation to which it corresponds.

Charity. To love human beings in so far as they are nothing. That is to love them as God does.