“Human life is thus only an endless illusion. Men deceive and flatter each other. No one speaks of us in our presence as he does when we are gone. Society is based on mutual hypocrisy.”

We like to be deceived.

Distraction is the only thing that consoles us for our miseries. Yet it is itself the greatest of our miseries.

Imagination decides everything.

The strength of a man’s virtue should not be measured by his special exertions, but by his habitual acts.

I rather live as if God exists to find out that He doesn’t than live as if he doesn’t exist to find out He does.

Once your soul has been enlarged by a truth, it can never return to its original size.

Happiness is neither within us, nor without us. It is in the union of ourselves with God.

There are only two kinds of men: the righteous who think they are sinners and the sinners who think they are righteous.

All the trouble in the world is due to the fact that man cannot sit still in a room.

Men never do evil so completely and cheerfully as when they do it from religious conviction.

Mutual cheating is the foundation of society.

All our dignity lies in our thoughts.

Human beings must be known to be loved; but Divine beings must be loved to be known.

Faith is a gift of God.

Kind words do not cost much. They never blister the tongue or lips. They make other people good-natured. They also produce their own image on men’s souls, and a beautiful image it is.

Faith is different from proof; the latter is human, the former is a Gift from God.