“Genius is present in every age, but the men carrying it within them remain benumbed unless extraordinary events occur to heat up and melt the mass so that it flows forth.”

We swallow with one gulp the lie that flatters us, and drink drop by drop the truth which is bitter to us.

Only the bad man is alone.

Give, but, if possible, spare the poor man the shame of begging.

Philosophy is as far separated from impiety as religion is from fanaticism.

Isn’t it better to have men being ungrateful than to miss a chance to do good?

I have not the hope of being immortal, because the desire of it has not given me that vanity.

Good music is very close to primitive language.

Anyone who takes it upon himself, on his private authority, to break a bad law, thereby authorizes everyone else to break the good ones.

Only passions, great passions, can elevate the soul to great things.

I am wholly yours – you are everything to me; we will sustain each other in all the ills of life it may please fate to inflict upon us; you will soothe my troubles; I will comfort you in yours.

Justice is the first virtue of those who command, and stops the complaints of those who obey.

Scepticism is the first step toward truth.

Are we not madder than those first inhabitants of the plain of Sennar? We know that the distance separating the earth from the sky is infinite, and yet we do not stop building our tower.

I discuss with myself questions of politics, love, taste, or philosophy. I let my mind rove wantonly, give it free rein to followany idea, wise or mad that may present itself. My ideas are my harlots.

When one compares the talents one has with those of a Leibniz , one is tempted to throw away one’s books and go die quietly in the dark of some forgotten corner.

In order to shake a hypothesis, it is sometimes not necessary to do anything more than push it as far as it will go.

There must be other, less cruel ways of obtaining knowledge.

Never trust the calm sea when she shows her false alluring smile.

Courage is what preserves our liberty, safety, life, and our homes and parents, our country and children. Courage comprises all things.

The free press is the mother of all our liberties and of our progress under liberty.

I believe in the forgiveness of sin and the redemption of ignorance.

The mind like a sick body can be healed and changed by medicine.

Jesus changed how the world thinks about science, medicine, human rights, education & more.

Meantime, when once we know from nothing still Nothing can be create, we shall divine More clearly what we seek: those elements From which alone all things created are, And how accomplished by no tool of Gods.