The policy of man consists, at first, in endeavoring to arrive at a state equal to that of animals, whom nature has furnished with food, clothing, and shelter.

We have our arts, the ancients had theirs... We cannot raise obelisks a hundred feet high in a single piece, but our meridians are more exact.

To make a vow for life is to make oneself a slave.

The spirit of property doubles a man's strength.

The prudent man does himself good; the virtuous one does it to other men.

Every abuse ought to be reformed, unless the reform is more dangerous than the abuse itself.

Let us meet four times a year in a grand temple with music, and thank God for all his gifts. There is one sun. There is one God. Let us have one religion. Then all mankind will be brethren.

Let us leave every man at liberty to seek into himself and to lose himself in his ideas.

It is not enough to conquer; one must know how to seduce.

Why, since we are always complaining of our ills, are we constantly employed in redoubling them?