No man has received from nature the right to command his fellow human beings.
Poetry must have something in it that is barbaric, vast and wild.
A thing is not proved just because no one has ever questioned it. What has never been gone into impartially has never been properly gone into. Hence scepticism is the first step toward truth. It must be applied generally, because it is the touchstone.
You have to make it happen.
There is no true sovereign except the nation; there can be no true legislator except the people.
Bad company is as instructive as licentiousness. One makes up for the loss of one’s innocence with the loss of one’s prejudices.
It is very important not to mistake hemlock for parsley, but to believe or not believe in God is not important at all.
The blood of Jesus Christ can cover a multitude of sins, it seems to me.
When superstition is allowed to perform the task of old age in dulling the human temperament, we can say goodbye to all excellence in poetry, in painting, and in music.
A nation which thinks that it is belief in God and not good law which makes people honest does not seem to me very advanced.
The decisions of law courts should never be printed: in the long run, they form a counter authority to the law.
There is no moral precept that does not have something inconvenient about it.
We are far more liable to catch the vices than the virtues of our associates.
We swallow with one gulp the lie that flatters us, and drink drop by drop the truth which is bitter to us.
There is no kind of harassment that a man may not inflict on a woman with impunity in civilized societies.
The best doctor is the one you run to and can’t find.
Every man has his dignity. I’m willing to forget mine, but at my own discretion and not when someone else tells me to.
Disturbances in society are never more fearful than when those who are stirring up the trouble can use the pretext of religion to mask their true designs.
Wandering in a vast forest at night, I have only a faint light to guide me. A stranger appears and says to me: ‘My friend, you should blow out your candle in order to find your way more clearly.’ This stranger is a theologian.
The philosopher has never killed any priests, whereas the priest has killed a great many philosophers.