"If he exalts himself, I humble him. If he humbles himself, I exalt him. And I go on contradicting him Until he understands That he is a monster that passes all understanding."

"Everything that is written merely to please the author is worthless."

"Man is but a reed, the most feeble thing in nature; but he is a thinking reed."

"Men never commit evil so fully and joyfully as when they do it for religious convictions."

"We make an idol of truth itself, for truth apart from charity is not God, but his image and an idol that we must not love or worship."

"We know the truth, not only be the reason, but also be the heart."

"The heart has its reasons which reason knows not of."

"A trifle consoles us, for a trifle distresses us."

"Please forgive the long letter; I didn’t have time to write a short one."

"If you gain, you gain all. If you lose, you lose nothing. Wager then, without hesitation, that He exsists."

"When a soldier complains of his hard life (or a labourer, etc.) try giving him nothing to do."

"We run carelessly over the precipice after having put something in front of us to prevent us seeing it."

"No religion except ours has taught that man is born in sin; none of the philosophical sects has admitted it; none therefore has spoken the truth"

"He that takes truth for his guide, and duty for his end, may safely trust to God's providence to lead him aright"

"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 matter."

"The power of a man's virtue should not be measured by his special efforts, but by his ordinary doing."

"Kind words do not cost much. Yet they accomplish much"

"Man's grandeur is that he knows himself to be miserable."

"Man's sensitivity to little things and insensitivity to the greatest things are marks of a strange disorder."

"Words differently arranged have different meanings, and meanings differently arranged have different effects."

"In faith there is enough light for those who want to believe and enough shadows to blind those who don't."

"Passion cannot be beautiful without excess; one either loves too much or not enough."

"The last act is bloody, however fine the rest of the play"

"God instituted prayer to communicate to creatures the dignity of causality."