He wanted to know how they prayed to God in El Dorado. "We do not pray to him at all," said the reverend sage. "We have nothing to ask of him. He has given us all we want, and we give him thanks continually.

History is fables agreed upon.

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

Fools have a habit of believing that everything written by a famous author is admirable. For my part I read only to please myself and like only what suits my taste.

We are astonished at thought, but sensation is equally wonderful.

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.

It is fancy rather than taste which produces so many new fashions