“Carelessness and in-attention alone can afford us any remedy. For this reason I rely entirely upon them.”

It is an absurdity to believe that the Deity has human passions, and one of the lowest of human passions, a restless appetite for applause

Tis not unreasonable for me to prefer the destruction of the whole world to the scratching of my finger.

The bigotry of theologians is a malady which seems almost incurable.

I weigh the one miracle against the other and according to the superiority which I discover, I pronounce my decision.

The science of man is the only solid foundation for the other sciences.

But the greatest part of mankind float between vice and virtue.

I never knew anyone, that examined and deliberated about nonsense, who did not believe it before the end of his enquiries.

Where am I, or what? From what causes do I derive my existence, and to what condition shall I return?

Reason is, and ought only to be the slave of the passions, and can never pretend to any other office than to serve and obey them.

It is difficult for a man to speak long of himself without vanity.

Nothing is more usual than for philosophers to encroach upon the province of grammarians; and to engage in disputes of words, while they imagine that they are handling controversies of the deepest importance and concern

The gazing populace receive greedily, without examination, whatever soothes superstition and promotes wonder.

In public affairs men are often better pleased that the truth, though known to everybody, should be wrapped up under a decent cover than if it were exposed in open daylight to the eyes of all the world.

Beauty is no quality in things themselves: It exists merely in the mind which contemplates them; and each mind perceives a different beauty.

Reading and sauntering and lounging and dosing, which I call thinking, is my supreme Happiness.

Revolutions of government cannot be effected by the mere force of argument and reasoning.

You could afford your house without the government if it weren’t for the government.

Republican leadership has endless amounts of money for bloated military budgets and tax breaks for billionaires. But when working families need help, oh my God, we can’t afford it!

If you really want something , you can have it if you’re willing to pay the price. And the price means you have to work better and harder than the next guy.

So long as freedom from hunger is only half achieved, so long as two thirds of the nations have food deficits, no citizen, no nation can afford to be satisfied.

It is one of the blessings of old friends that you can afford to be stupid with them.

If you act like an adult when you’re a kid you can afford to act like a kid the rest of your life.

This country cannot afford to be materially rich and spiritually poor.

Aggressive fighting for the right is the noblest sport the world affords.