To pray to God is to flatter oneself that with words one can alter nature.

History should be written as philosophy.

You despise books; you whose lives are absorbed in the vanities of ambition, the pursuit of pleasure or indolence; but remember that all the known world, excepting only savage nations, is governed by books.

Often the prudent, far from making their destinies, succumb to them. -Francois

Despite the enormous quantity of books, how few people read! And if one reads profitably, one would realize how much stupid stuff the vulgar herd is content to swallow every day.

What! Have you no monks to teach, to dispute, to govern, to intrigue and to burn people who do not agree with them?

We never live; we are always in the expectation of living.