The entire world is my temple, and a very fine one too, if I’m not mistaken, and I’ll never lack priests to serve it as long as there are men.
It is wisdom in prosperity, when all is as thou wouldn’t have it, to fear and suspect the worst.
By burning Luther’s books you may rid your bookshelves of him, but you will not rid men’s minds of him.
A good portion of speaking will consist in knowing how to lie.
Man’s mind is so formed that it is far more susceptible to falsehood than to truth.
Human affairs are so obscure and various that nothing can be clearly known.
Nature, more of a stepmother than a mother in several ways, has sown a seed of evil in the hearts of mortals, especially in the more thoughtful men, which makes them dissatisfied with their own lot and envious of another s.
Nothing is as peevish and pedantic as men’s judgments of one another.
To know nothing is the happiest life.
Concealed talent brings no reputation.
I doubt if a single individual could be found from the whole of mankind free from some form of insanity. The only difference is one of degree. A man who sees a gourd and takes it for his wife is called insane because this happens to very few people.
Time takes away the grief of men.
Only a very few can be learned, but all can be Christian, all can be devout, and – I shall boldly add – all can be theologians.
Do not put chewed bones back on plates. Instead, throw them on the floor for the dog.
The opinion formulated by the Church has more value in my eyes than human reasons, whatever they may be.
Do not be guilty of possessing a library of learned books while lacking learning yourself.
They take unbelievable pleasure in the hideous blast of the hunting horn and baying of the hounds. Dogs dung smells sweet as cinnamon to them.
Anything which causes trouble has special merit in their eyes.
There is no joy in possession without sharing.
If you look at history you’ll find that no state has been so plagued by its rulers as when power has fallen into the hands of some dabbler in philosophy or literary addict.