As you know, the Inquisition is an admirable and wholly Christian invention to make the pope and the monks more powerful and turn a whole kingdom into hypocrites.

Sensual pleasure passes and vanishes, but the friendship between us, the mutual confidence, the delight of the heart, the enchantment of the soul, these things do not perish and can never be destroyed.

Men, generally going with the stream, seldom judge for themselves, and purity of taste is almost as rare as talent.

Thought depends absolutely on the stomach, but in spite of that, those who have the best stomachs are not the best thinkers.

The pursuit of pleasure must be the goal of every rational person.

It is not love that should be depicted as blind, but self-love.

Luxury has been railed at for two thousand years, in verse and in prose, and it has always been loved.