If there had been a censorship of the press in Rome we should have had today neither Horace nor Juvenal, nor the philosophical writings of Cicero.

Your destiny is that of a man, your vows those of a god.

You see, Mademoiselle, I have experience, I know the world. To pass the time, why don't you ask every passenger to tell you his life's story? And if there is a single one among them who has never cursed his life, who has not often told himself that he was the unhappiest of men, then you may throw me overboard, headfirst!

Individual misfortunes give rise to the general good; so that the more individual misfortunes exist, the more all is fine.

Prejudices are what rule the vulgar crowd.

I also know that we must cultivate our garden. For when man was put in the Garden of Eden, he was put there ut operaretur eum, to work; which proves that man was not born for rest.

Friendship is the marriage of the soul, and this marriage is liable to divorce.