Appreciation is an excellent thing. It makes what is excellent in others belong to us, as well.

We are all full of weakness and errors; let us mutually pardon each other our follies.

To hold a pen is to be at war.

“Love truth, but pardon error.”

“Despite the enormous quantity of books, how few people read! And if one reads profitably, one would realize how much stupid stuff the vulgar herd is content to swallow every day.”

“The most important decision you make is to be in a good mood.”

“The comfort of the rich depends upon an abundant supply of the poor.”

“If God did not exist, it would be necessary to invent him.”

“Faith consists in believing what reason cannot.”

“Don’t think money does everything or you are going to end up doing everything for money.”

“Every man is a creature of the age in which he lives and few are able to raise themselves above the ideas of the time.”

“It is love; love, the comfort of the human species, the preserver of the universe, the soul of all sentient beings, love, tender love.”

“Sensual pleasure passes and vanishes, but the friendship between us, the mutual confidence, the delight of the heart, the enchantment of the soul, these things do not perish and can never be destroyed.”

“We never live; we are always in the expectation of living.”

“No opinion is worth burning your neighbor for.”

“The longer we dwell on our misfortunes, the greater is their power to harm us.”

“Men will always be mad, and those who think they can cure them are the maddest of all.”

“The only way to comprehend what mathematicians mean by Infinity is to contemplate the extent of human stupidity.”

“The more often a stupidity is repeated, the more it gets the appearance of wisdom.”

“The mirror is a worthless invention. The only way to truly see yourself is in the reflection of someone else’s eyes.”

“It is clear that the individual who persecutes a man, his brother, because he is not of the same opinion, is a monster.”

“One day everything will be well, that is our hope. Everything’s fine today, that is our illusion.”

“Man is free at the instant he wants to be.”

“Liberty of thought is the life of the soul.” –

“Animals have these advantages over man: they never hear the clock strike, they die without any idea of death, they have no theologians to instruct them, their last moments are not disturbed by unwelcome and unpleasant ceremonies, their funerals cost them nothing, and no one starts lawsuits over their wills.”

It is with books as with men: a very small number play a great part

“Prejudices are what fools use for reason.”

“‎Life is a shipwreck, but we must not forget to sing in the lifeboats.”

“God is a comedian playing to an audience that is too afraid to laugh.”

“The secret of being a bore is to tell everything.”

“Fools have a habit of believing that everything written by a famous author is admirable. For my part I read only to please myself and like only what suits my taste.”

“It is better to risk saving a guilty person than to condemn an innocent one.”

“God is a circle whose center is everywhere and circumference nowhere.”

“Appreciation is a wonderful thing. It makes what is excellent in others belong to us as well.”

“The human brain is a complex organ with the wonderful power of enabling man to find reasons for continuing to believe whatever it is that he wants to believe.”

“Cherish those who seek the truth but beware of those who find it.”

“It is not enough to conquer; one must learn to seduce.”

“Ice-cream is exquisite. What a pity it isn’t illegal.”

“I have never made but one prayer to God, a very short one: Oh Lord, make my enemies ridiculous. And God granted it.”

“If this is the best of possible worlds, what then are the others?”

“History never repeats itself. Man always does.”

“The infinitely small have a pride infinitely great.”

“The pursuit of pleasure must be the goal of every rational person.”

“Marriage is the only adventure open to the cowardly.”

“One merit of poetry few persons will deny: it says more and in fewer words than prose.”

“If you want good laws, burn those you have and make new ones.”

“A State can be no better than the citizens of which it is composed. Our labour now is not to mould States but make citizens.”

“May God defend me from my friends: I can defend myself from my enemies.”

“No snowflake in an avalanche ever feels responsible.”

“He must be very ignorant for he answers every question he is asked.”