Theologians resemble dogs, that gnaw large bones for the sake of a very little meat.
The stream of vice will flow as naturally into palaces, as the common sewer flows into the river, and the river flows onward to the sea.
It is sometimes quite enough for a man to feign ignorance of that which he knows, to gain the reputation of knowing that of which he is ignorant.
A long continuance of wise administration is the best and surest means of arriving at despotism. Our present government gives us no alarm.
Both erudition and agriculture ought to be encouraged by government; wit and manufactures will come of themselves.
The endeavour to convince a bel esprit by the force of reason, is as mad an undertaking as the attempt to silence an echo by raising the voice.
Metaphysics always remind me of the caravanserais in the desert. They stand solitary and unsupported, and are therefore always ready to crumble into ruin.
A man should make his début in the world as though he were about to enter a hostile country; he must send out scouts, establish sentinels, and ever be upon the watch himself.
Too much sensibility creates unhappiness; too much insensibility creates crime.
What I have been taught, I have forgotten; what I know, I have guessed.