We swallow greedily any lie that flatters us, but we sip only little by little at a truth we find bitter.
There is only one passion, the passion for happiness.
To attempt the destruction of our passions is the height of folly. What a noble aim is that of the zealot who tortures himself like a madman in order to desire nothing, love nothing, feel nothing, and who, if he succeeded, would end up a complete monster!
It is said that desire is a product of the will, but the converse is in fact true: will is a product of desire.
People praise virtue, but they hate it, they run away from it. It freezes you to death, and in this world you've got to keep your feet warm.
Although a man may wear fine clothing, if he lives peacefully; and is good, self-possessed, has faith and is pure; and if he does not hurt any living being, he is a holy man.
There are three principal means of acquiring knowledge... observation of nature, reflection, and experimentation. Observation collects facts; reflection combines them; experimentation verifies the result of that combination.
If you want me to believe in God, you must make me touch him.
All abstract sciences are nothing but the study of relations between signs.
Man will never be free until the last king is strangled with the entrails of the last priest.