Quotes of All Topics . Occasions . Authors
The mind is the soul's eye, not its source of power. That lies in the heart, in other words, in the passions.
When we feel that we lack whatever is needed to secure someone else's esteem, we are very close to hating him
Vice foments war; it is virtue which actually fights. If there were no virtue, we would live in peace forever.
When an idea is not robust enough to stand expression in simple terms, it is a sign that it should be rejected.
It is not in everyone's power to secure wealth, office, or honors; but everyone may be good, generous, and wise.
As it is natural to believe many things without proof, so, despite all proof, is it natural to disbelieve others.
You must rouse into people's consciousness their own prudence and strength, if you want to raise their character.
Men are not to be judged by what they do not know, but by what they know, and by the manner in which they know it.
It is no great advantage to possess a quick wit, if it is not correct; the perfection is not speed but uniformity.
The favorites of fortune or of fame topple from their pedestals before our eyes without diverting us from ambition.
Glory fills the world with virtue, and, like a beneficent sun, covers the whole earth with flowers and with fruits.
It is unjust to exact that men shall do out of deference to our advice what they have no desire to do for themselves.
We are not greatly pleased that our friends should respect our good qualities if they venture to perceive our faults.
We must not be timid from a fear of committing faults: the greatest fault of all is to deprive oneself of experience.
The greatest evil that fortune can bring to men is to endow them with feeble resources and yet to make them ambitious.
The greatest achievement of the human spirit is to live up to one's opportunities and make the most of one's resources.
Men dissimulate their dearest, most constant, and most virtuous inclination from weakness and a fear of being condemned.
The maxim that men are not to be praised before their death was invented by envy and too lightly adopted by philosophers.
Sometimes a lengthened period of prosperity melts away in a moment; just as the heat of summer flies before a day of tempest.
Some authors regard morality in the same light as we regard modern architecture. Convenience is the first thing to be looked for.
Excessive distrust is not less hurtfJul than its opposite. Most men become useless to him who is unwilling to risk being deceived.
If it is true that vice can never be done away with, the science of government consists of making it contribute to the public good.
As a house implies a builder, and a garment a weaver, and a door a carpenter, so does the existence of the Universe imply a Creator.
Persevere in the fight, struggle on, do not let go, think magnanimously of man and life, for man is good and life is affluent and fruitful.
If our friends do us a service, we think they owe it to us by their title of friend. We never think that they do not owe us their friendship.
We can console ourselves for not having great talents as we console ourselves for not having great places. We can be above both in our hearts.
It is of no use to possess a lively wit if it is not of the right proportion: the perfection of a clock is not to go fast, but to be accurate.
If anyone accuses me of contradicting myself, I shall reply; I have been wrong once or more often, however I do not aspire to be always wrong.
Our virtues are dearer to us the more we have had to suffer for them. It is the same with our children. All profound affection admits a sacrifice.
We are very wrong to think that some fault or other can exclude virtue, or to consider the alliance of good and evil as a monstrosity or an enigma.
And where, on earth, dwell hope and truth? In childhood's uncorrupted heart; Alas! too soon to guileless youth The world doth its dark code impart!
We are so presumptuous that we think we can separate our personal interest from that of humanity, and slander mankind without compromising ourselves.
Learn to overrule minor interest in favor of great ones, and generously to do all the good the heart prompts; a man is never injured by acting virtuously.
Men sometimes feel injured by praise because it assigns a limit to their merit; few people are modest enough not to take offense that one appreciates them.
Our errors and our controversies, in the sphere of morality, arise sometimes from looking on men as though they could be altogether bad, or altogether good.
Most people grow old within a small circle of ideas, which they have not discovered for themselves. There are perhaps less wrong-minded people than thoughtless.
To withdraw ourselves from the law of the strong, we have found ourselves obliged to submit to justice. Justice or might, we must choose between these two masters.
It is proof of a narrow mind when things worthy of esteem are distinguished from things worthy of love. Great minds naturally love whatever is worthy of their esteem.
Persons of rank do not talk about such trifles as the common people do; but the common people do not busy themselves about such frivolous things as do persons of rank.
Mediocre men sometimes fear great office, and when they do not aim at it, or when they refuse it, all that is to be concluded is that they are aware of their mediocrity.
Conscience, the organ of feeling which dominates us and of the opinions which rule us, is presumptuous in the strong, timid in the weak and unfortunate, uneasy in the undecided.
Whoever has seen the masked at a ball dance amicably together, and take hold of hands without knowing each other, leaving the next moment to meet no more, can form an idea of the world.
In order to protect himself from force, man was obliged to submit to justice. Justice or force: he was compelled to choose between the two masters, so little are we made to be independent.
The falsest of all philosophies is that which, under the pretext of delivering men from the embarrassment of their passions, counsels idleness and the abandonment and neglect of themselves.
I do not approve the maxim which desires a man to know a little of everything. Superficial knowledge, knowledge without principles, is almost always useless and sometimes harmful knowledge.
Reason and emotion counsel and supplement each other. Whoever heeds only the one, and puts aside the other, recklessly deprives himself of a portion of the aid granted us for the regulation of our conduct.
A liar is a man who does now know how to deceive, a flatterer one who only deceives fools: he who knows how to make skilful use of the truth, and understands its eloquence, can alone pride himself in cleverness.
We can love with all our hearts those in whom we recognize great faults. It would be impertinent to believe that perfection alone has the right to please us; sometimes our weaknesses attach us to each other as much as our virtues.
When we are convinced of some great truths, and feel our convictions keenly, we must not fear to express it, although others have said it before us. Every thought is new when an author expresses it in a manner peculiar to himself.
Newton, Pascal, Bossuet, Racine, F?nelon -- that is to say, some of the most enlightened men on earth, in the most philosophical of all ages -- have been believers in Jesus Christ; and the great Cond?, when dying, repeated these noble words, "Yes, I shall see God as He is, face to face!".