All the unhappiness of men arises from one single fact, that they cannot stay quietly in their own chamber..

The art of revolutionizing and overturning states is to undermine established customs, by going back to their origin, in order to mark their want of ….

[On vanity:] The nose of Cleopatra: if it had been shorter, the face of the earth would have changed..

Noble deeds that are concealed are most esteemed..

There are some who speak well and write badly. For the place and the audience warm them, and draw from their minds more than they think of without th….

It is not from space that I must seek my dignity, but from the government of my thought. I shall have no more if I possess worlds. By space the unive….

Human life is thus only a perpetual illusion; men deceive and flatter each other. No one speaks of us in our presence as he does of us in our absence….

Il n'y a que deux sortes d'hommes: les uns justes, qui se croient pe cheurs; les autres pe cheurs, qui se croient justes. There are only two types ….

Knowledge has two extremes. The first is the pure natural ignorance in which all men find themselves at birth. The other extreme is that reached by g….

Chess is the gymnasium of the mind..

People are generally better persuaded by the reasons which they have themselves discovered than by those which have come in to the mind of others..

To make a man a saint, it must indeed be by grace; and whoever doubts this does not know what a saint is, or a man..

Christianity is strange. It bids man recognise that he is vile, even abominable, and bids him desire to be like God. Without such a counterpoise, thi….

It is the conduct of God, who disposes all things kindly, to put religion into the mind by reason, and into the heart by grace..

When we see a natural style, we are astonished and charmed; for we expected to see an author, and we find a person..

Things have different qualities, and the soul different inclinations; for nothing is simple which is presented to the soul, and the soul never presen….

Rivers are highways that move on and bear us whither we wish to go..

The weather and my mood have little connection. I have my foggy and my fine days within me; my prosperity or misfortune has little to do with the mat….

Kind words produce their images on men's souls..

To have no time for philosophy is to be a true philosopher..

Discourses on humility are a source of pride in the vain and of humility in the humble. So those on scepticism cause believers to affirm. Few men spe….