He was a great patriot, a humanitarian, a loyal friend; provided, of course, he really is dead.

Weakness on both sides is, as we know, the motto of all quarrels.

The greatest consolation in life is to say what one thinks.

Our priests are not what a silly populace supposes; all their learning consists in our credulity.

Custom, law bent my first years to the religion of the happy Muslims. I see it too clearly: the care taken of our childhood forms our feelings, our habits, our belief. By the Ganges I would have been a slave of the false gods, a Christian in Paris, a Muslim here.

Alas...I too have known love, that ruler of hearts, that soul of our soul: it's never brought me anything except one kiss and twenty kicks in the rump. How could such a beautiful cause produce such an abominable effect on you?

There is an astonishing imagination, even in the science of mathematics.