The more you struggle to live, the less you live. Give up the notion that you must be sure of what you are doing. Instead, surrender to what is real ….

True piety for the universe but no time for religions made for man's convenience..

Nothing in the universe is contingent, but all things are conditioned to exist and operate in a particular manner by the necessity of the divine natu….

Ceremonies are no aid to blessedness..

In proportion as we endeavor to live according to the guidance of reason, shall we strive as much as possible to depend less on hope, to liberate our….

Statesman are suspected of plotting against mankind, rather than consulting their interests, and are esteemed more crafty than learned..

He who seeks to regulate everything by law is more likely to arouse vices than to reform them. It is best to grant what cannot be abolished, even tho….

Philosophers conceive of the passions which harass us as vices into which men fall by their own fault, and, therefore, generally deride, bewail, or b….

He whose honor depends on the opinion of the mob must day by day strive with the greatest anxiety, act and scheme in order to retain his reputation. ….

He alone is free who lives with free consent under the entire guidance of reason..

Laws directed against opinions affect the generous-minded rather than the wicked, and are adapted less for coercing criminals than for irritating the….

We feel and know that we are eternal..

In practical life we are compelled to follow what is most probable ; in speculative thought we are compelled to follow truth..

Freedom is absolutely necessary for the progress in science and the liberal arts..

The world would be happier if men had the same capacity to be silent that they have to speak..

I can control my passions and emotions if I can understand their nature.

Will and intellect are one and the same thing..

Men believe themselves to be free, simply because they are conscious of their actions, and unconscious of the causes whereby those actions are determ….

He who regulates everything by laws, is more likely to arouse vices than reform them..

Fear cannot be without hope nor hope without fear..

The more a government strives to curtail freedom of speech, the more obstinately is it resisted; not indeed by the avaricious, ... but by those whom ….