The Holy Roman Empire is neither Holy, nor Roman, nor an Empire.

I have lived eighty years of life and know nothing for it, but to be resigned and tell myself that flies are born to be eaten by spiders and man to be devoured by sorrow.

Truth is a fruit which should not be plucked until it is ripe.

Men are in general so tricky, so envious, and so cruel that when we find one who is only weak, we are too happy.

The adjective is the enemy of the noun. Variant: The adjective is the enemy of the substantive.

We are intelligent beings: intelligent beings cannot have been formed by a crude, blind, insensible being: there is certainly some difference between the ideas of Newton and the dung of a mule. Newton's intelligence, therefore, came from another intelligence

Life is thickly sown with thorns. I know no other remedy than to pass rapidly over them. The longer we dwell on our misfortunes the greater is their power to harm us.