Either God exists or He doesn't. Either I believe in God or I don't. Of the four possibilities, only one is to my disadvantage. To avoid that possibility, I believe in God.

I have discovered that all human evil comes from this: man's being unable to sit still in a room.

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

To ridicule philosophy is really to philosophize.

All the trouble in the world is due to the fact that man cannot sit still in a room.

Contradiction is not a sign of falsity, nor the lack of contradiction a sign of truth.

We are generally the better persuaded by the reasons we discover ourselves than by those given to us by others.

The strength of a man's virtue should not be measured by his special exertions, but by his habitual acts.

The more intelligent a man is, the more originality he discovers in men. Ordinary people see no difference between men.

When some passion or effect is described in a natural style, we find within ourselves the truth of what we hear, without knowing it was there.