"All religions are more or less mixed with superstitions. Man is not reasonable enough to content himself with a pure and sensible religion, worthy of the Deity."

"O love! only a few rays of thy sacred fire radiate in this exhausted world!"

"Poetry is the music of the soul."

"All the passions die with the years; self-love alone never dies."

"If as much care were taken to perpetuate a race of fine men as is done to prevent the mixture of ignoble blood in horses and dogs, the genealogy of every one would be written on his face and displayed in his manners."

"Illusion is the first of all pleasures."

"It is difficult to free fools from the chains they revere."

"One dies twice: to cease to live is nothing, but to cease to love and to be loved is an insupportable death."

"Superstition is to religion what astrology is to astronomy: a very stupid daughter of a very wise mother."

"Moderation is the pleasure of the wise."

"Satire lies about men of letters during their life, and eulogy after their death."

"Love is a canvas furnished by Nature, and embroidered by imagination."

"If there were no God, it would be necessary to invent one."

"Superstition excites storms; philosophy appeases them."

"Love is of all the passions the strongest, for it attacks simultaneously the head> the heart, and the senses."

"Labor is often the father of pleasure."

"It does not depend upon us to avoid poverty, but it does depend upon us to make that poverty respected."

"Our country is that spot to which our heart is attached."

"Paradise was made for tender hearts; hell, for loveless hearts."

"The best written book is a receipt for a pottage."

"We can not always oblige, but we can always speak obligingly."

"Virtue: a word easy to pronounce, difficult to understand."

"Dress changes the manners."

"Heaven made virtue; man, the appearance."

"A republic is not founded on virtue, but on the ambition of its citizens."

"We never live: we are always in expectation of living."

"I do not know in the whole history of the world a hero, a worthy man, a prophet, a true Christian, who has not been the victim of the jealous, of a scamp, or of a sinister spirit."

"Pleasure has its time; so, too, has wisdom. Make love in thy youth, and in old age, attend to thy salvation."

"Laws should be clear, uniform, precise : to interpret them is nearly always to corrupt them."

"O unfortunates who sin without pleasure! in your errors be more reasonable ; be, at least, fortunate sinners. Since you must be damned, be damned for amiable faults."

"All joys do not cause laughter; great pleasures are serious: pleasures of love do not make us laugh."

"Anything serves as a pretext for the wicked."

"God created woman only to tame man."

"Whoever is suspicious incites treason."

"Use, do not abuse : neither abstinence nor excess ever renders man happy."

"Alas! how can we always resist? The devil tempts us, and the flesh is weak."

"All thinkers have about the same principles, and form but one republic."

"The Devil and Love are but one."

"Shun idleness: it is the rust that attaches itself to the most brilliant metals."

"Prejudice is the reason of fools."

"O Truth! pure and sacred virgin, when wilt thou be worthily revered? O Goddess who instructs us, why didst thou put thy palace in a well? When will our learned writers, alike free from bitterness and from flattery, faithfully teach us life?"

"La superstition met le monde entier en flammes; la philosophie les éteint."

"Toutes les sectes des philosophes ont échoué contre l'écueil du mal physique et moral. Il ne reste que d'avouer que Dieu ayant agi pour le mieux n'a pu agir mieux."

"Laissez lire, et laissez danser; ces deux amusements ne feront jamais de mal au monde."

"Que les supplices des criminels soient utiles. Un homme pendu n'est bon à rien, et un homme condamné aux ouvrages publics sert encore la patrie, et est une leçon vivante."

"Il est défendu de tuer; tout meurtrier est puni, à moins qu'il n'ait tué en grande compagnie, et au son des trompettes."

"L'Éternel a ses desseins de toute éternité. Si la prière est d'accord avec ses volontés immuables, il est très inutile de lui demander ce qu'il a résolu de faire. Si on le prie de faire le contraire de ce qu'il a résolu, c'est le prier d'être faible, léger, inconstant; c'est croire qu'il soit tel, c'est se moquer de lui. Ou vous lui demandez une chose juste; en ce cas il la doit, et elle se fera sans qu'on l'en prie; c'est même se défier de lui que lui faire instance ou la chose est injuste, et alors on l'outrage. Vous êtes digne ou indigne de la grâce que vous implorez: si digne, il le sait mieux que vous; si indigne, on commet un crime de plus en demandant ce qu'on ne mérite pas. En un mot, nous ne faisons des prières à Dieu que parce que nous l'avons fait à notre image. Nous le traitons comme un bacha, comme un sultan qu'on peut irriter ou apaiser."

"Rien n'est si ordinaire que d'imiter ses ennemis, et d'employer leurs armes."