It is only natural, of course, that each man should think his own opinions best: the crow loves his fledgling, and the ape his cub.

Pride thinks it's own happiness shines the brighter by comparing it with the misfortunes of others.

They have no lawyers among them, for they consider them as a sort of people whose profession it is to disguise matters.

By confronting us with irreducible mysteries that stretch our daily vision to include infinity, nature opens an inviting and guiding path toward a spiritual life.

It is a wise mans part, rather to avoid sickness, than to wish for medicines.

Instead of inflicting these horrible punishments, it would be far more to the point to provide everyone with some means of livelihood, so that nobody's under the frightful necessity of becoming, first a thief, and then a corpse.

Pride measures prosperity not by her own advantages but by the disadvantages of others. She would not even wish to be a goddess unless there were some wretches left whom she could order about and lord it over, whose misery would make her happiness seem all the more extraordinary, whose poverty can be tormented and exacerbated by a display of her wealth. This infernal serpent, pervading the human heart, keeps men from reforming their lives, holding them back like a suckfish.