History is the recital of facts represented as true. Fable, on the other hand, is the recital of facts represented as fiction.

Democracy is just a filler for textbooks! Do you actually believe that public opinion influences the government?

What can you say to a man who tells you he prefers obeying God rather than men, and that as a result he's certain he'll go to heaven if he cuts your throat?

This self-love is the instrument of our preservation; it resembles the provision for the perpetuity of mankind: it is necessary, it is dear to us, it gives us pleasure, and we must conceal it.

The multitude of books is making us ignorant.

The right of commanding is no longer an advantage transmitted by nature; like an inheritance, it is the fruit of labors, the price of courage.

Translations increase the faults of a work and spoil its beauties.