When man lives under government, he is fallen, his worth is gone, and his nature tarnished..

My general plan is good, though in the detail there may be faults..

G is Grace, the Flaming Star is the Torch of Reason. Those who possess this knowledge are indeed Illuminati..

Salvation does not lie where strong thrones are defended by swords, where the smoke of censers ascend to heaven or where thousands of strong men pace….

And of all illumination which human reason can give, none is comparable to the discovery of what we are, our nature, our obligations, what happiness ….

Who would imagine that I was to be the founder of a new religion..

But I have contrived an explanation which has every advantage; is inviting to christians of every communion; gradually frees them from all religious ….

But alas, they are all sadly deficient, because they leave us under the domination of political and religious prejudices; and they are as inefficient….

In another situation, and in an active station in life, I should have been keenly occupied, and the founding of an order would have never come into m….

The head of every family will be what Abraham was, the patriarch, the priest and the unlettered lord of his family, and Reason will be the code of la….

We must win the common people in every corner. This will be obtained chiefly by means of the schools, and by open, hearty behavior, show, condescensi….

Of all the means I know to lead men, the most effectual is a concealed mystery..

The most wonderful thing of all is that the distinguished Lutheran and Calvinist theologians who belong to our order really believe that they see in ….

I did not bring Deism into Bavaria more than into Rome. I found it here, in great vigour, more abounding than in any of the neighboring Protestant St….

I am proud to be known to the world as the founder of the Illuminati..

We see with what keenness and zeal the frivolous business of Freemasons is conducted, by persons knit together by the secrecy of their union..

By establishing reading societies, and subscription libraries, and taking these under our direction, and supplying them through our labors, we may tu….

Illuminate the opposition..

If a writer publishes any thing that attracts notice, and is in itself just, but does not accord with our plan, we must endeavour to win him over, or….

The hankering of the mind is irresistible..

Let this circumstance of our constitution therefore be directed to this noble purpose, and then all the objections urged against it by jealous tyrann….