"One merit of poetry few persons will deny: it says more and in fewer words than prose"
"Of all religions, the Christian should of course inspire the most tolerance, but until now Christians have been the most intolerant of all men"
"Let us read and let us dance - two amusements that will never do any harm to the world"
"The very impossibility in which I find myself to prove that God is not, discovers to me his existence"
"There are truths which are not for all men, nor for all times"
"The truths of religion are never so well understood as by those who have lost the power of reason"
"The sovereign is called a tyrant who knows no laws but his caprice"
"In every author let us distinguish the man from his works"
"Weakness on both sides is, as we know, the motto of all quarrels"
"We have a natural right to make use of our pens as of our tongue, at our peril, risk and hazard"
"Love has features which pierce all hearts, he wears a bandage which conceals the faults of those beloved. He has wings, he comes quickly and flies away the same"
"Indeed, history is nothing more than a tableau of crimes and misfortunes"
"We cannot always oblige; but we can always speak obligingly"
"In general, the art of government consists of taking as much money as possible from one class of citizens to give to another"
"Chance is a word void of sense; nothing can exist without a cause"
"By appreciation, we make excellence in others our own property"
"We cannot wish for that we know not"
"Originality is nothing but judicious imitation. The most original writers borrowed one from another"
"The first step, my son, which one makes in the world, is the one on which depends the rest of our days"
"Whoever serves his country well has no need of ancestors"
"All men are born with a nose and ten fingers, but no one was born with a knowledge of God"
"A witty saying proves nothing"
"An ideal form of government is democracy tempered with assassination"
"All the reasonings of men are not worth one sentiment of women"
"All styles are good except the tiresome kind"
"As long as people believe in absurdities they will continue to commit atrocities"
"Anything that is too stupid to be spoken is sung"
"Anyone who seeks to destroy the passions instead of controlling them is trying to play the angel"
"Do well and you will have no need for ancestors"
"Divorce is probably of nearly the same date as marriage. I believe, however, that marriage is some weeks the more ancient"
"Better is the enemy of good"
"The safest course is to do nothing against one's conscience. With this secret, we can enjoy life and have no fear from death"
"The public is a ferocious beast; one must either chain it or flee from it"
"The progress of rivers to the ocean is not so rapid as that of man to error"
"To hold a pen is to be at war"
"To believe in God is impossible not to believe in Him is absurd"
"Time, which alone makes the reputation of men, ends by making their defects respectable"
"When he to whom one speaks does not understand, and he who speaks himself does not understand, that is metaphysics"
"What then do you call your soul? What idea have you of it? You cannot of yourselves, without revelation, admit the existence within you of anything but a power unknown to you of feeling and thinking"
"What most persons consider as virtue, after the age of 40 is simply a loss of energy"
"What is tolerance? It is the consequence of humanity. We are all formed of frailty and error; let us pardon reciprocally each other's folly - that is the first law of nature"
"Very often, say what you will, a knave is only a fool"
"Very learned women are to be found, in the same manner as female warriors; but they are seldom or ever inventors"
"Use, do not abuse; neither abstinence nor excess ever renders man happy"
"Tyrants have always some slight shade of virtue; they support the laws before destroying them"
"Ice-cream is exquisite - what a pity it isn't illegal"
"Every man is guilty of all the good he did not do"
"Each player must accept the cards life deals him or her: but once they are in hand, he or she alone must decide how to play the cards in order to win the game"
"Doubt is not a pleasant condition, but certainty is absurd"
