The most rational cure after all for the inordinate fear of death is to set a just value on life.

Death puts an end to rivalship and competition. The dead can boast no advantage over us, nor can we triumph over them.

Religion either makes men wise and virtuous, or it makes them set up false pretenses to both.

The greatest grossness sometimes accompanies the greatest refinement, as a natural relief.

Elegance is something more than ease; it is more than a freedom from awkwardness or restraint. It implies, I conceive, a precision, a polish, a sparkling, spirited yet delicate.

The most phlegmatic dispositions often contain the most inflammable spirits, as fire is struck from the hardest flints.

Those who have had none of the cares of this life to harass and disturb them, have been obliged to have recourse to the hopes and fears of the next to vary the prospect before them.