“Life was given to me as a favor, so I may abandon it when it is one no longer.”

The English are busy folk; they have no time in which to be polite.

The prejudices of superstition are superior to all others, and have the strongest influence on the human mind.

When God endowed human beings with brains, He did not intend to guarantee them.

Friendship is a contract in which we render small services in expectation of big ones.

It is not the young people that degenerate; they are not spoiled till those of mature age are already sunk into corruption.

The less men think, the more they talk.

Political liberty in a citizen is that tranquillity of spirit which comes from the opinion each one has of his security, and in order for him to have this liberty the government must be such that one citizen cannot fear another citizen.

A fondness for reading changes the inevitable dull hours of our life into exquisite hours of delight.

The spirit of commerce… renders every man willing to live on his own property…& prevents the growth of luxury.

Society is the union of men and not the men themselves.

What unhappy beings men are! They constantly waver between false hopes and silly fears, and instead of relying on reason they create monsters to frighten themselves with, and phantoms which lead them astray.

With truths of a certain kind, it is not enough to make them appear convincing: one must also make them felt. Of such kind are moral truths.

In the state of nature… all men are born equal, but they cannot continue in this equality. Society makes them lose it, and they recover it only by the protection of the law.

Men should be bewailed at their birth, and not at their death.

An author is a fool who, not content with boring those he lives with, insists on boring future generations.

Europe is a state with several provinces

By disregarding intuition in favor of science, or science in favor of instincts, we limit ourselves.

Biggest affirmative argument I know in favor of ‘If a man die, shall he live again?’ is just the way you feel inside you that nothin’ can stop you from livin’ on.

Most people are in favor of change, as long as they can continue to do things the same as they always have.

to ask for anything of consequence from friends who cannot refuse is uncivilized.

Fortune, that favors fools.

Raillery is a mode of speaking in favor of one’s wit at the expense of one’s better nature.

Friendship is an arrangement by which we undertake to exchange small favors for big ones.

Natural selection, as it has operated in human history, favors not only the clever but the murderous.