I should attempt to treat human vice and folly geometrically… the passions of hatred, anger, envy, and so on, considered in themselves, follow from the necessity and efficacy of nature… I shall, therefore, treat the...

Minds, however, are conquered not by arms, but by love and nobility.

Things which are accidentally the causes either of hope or fear are called good or evil omens.

the ultimate aim of government is not to rule, or restrain by fear, nor to exact obedience, but to free every man from fear that he may live in all possible security… In fact the...

aquele que quer responder às injúrias com o ódio vive na tristeza ou na mágoa, aquele que quer vencer o ódio com o amor combate alegremente e sem temor. Triunfa tanto sobre um grande número...

When a man is prey to his emotions, he is not his own master.

Those who wish to seek out the cause of miracles and to understand the things of nature as philosophers, and not to stare at them in astonishment like fools, are soon considered heretical and impious,...

All laws which can be violated without doing any one any injury are laughed at. Nay, so far are they from doing anything to control the desires and passions of men that, on the contrary,...

In proportion as we endeavor to live according to the guidance of reason, shall we strive as much as possible to depend less on hope, to liberate ourselves from fear, to rule fortune, and to...

In practical life we are compelled to follow what is most probable ; in speculative thought we are compelled to follow truth.

Der Endzweck des Staates ist […] im Grund die Freiheit.

those, who are believed to be most self—abased and humble, are generally in reality the most ambitious and envious

Of all the things that are beyond my power, I value nothing more highly than to be allowed the honor of entering into bonds of friendship with people who sincerely love truth. For, of things...

I call him free who is led solely by reason.

The superstitious know how to reproach people for their vices better than they know how to teach them virtues, and they strive, not to guide men by reason, but to restrain them by fear, so...

The highest activity a human being can attain is learning for understanding, because to understand is to be free.

Those who know the true use of money, and regulate the measure of wealth according to their needs, live contented with few things.

Blessedness is not the reward of virtue, but virtue itself.

I do not know how to teach philosophy without becoming a disturber of the peace.

After experience had taught me that all the usual surroundings of social life are vain and futile; seeing that none of the objects of my fears contained in themselves anything either good or bad, except...

In so far as the mind sees things in their eternal aspect, it participates in eternity.

The more you struggle to live, the less you live. Give up the notion that you must be sure of what you are doing. Instead, surrender to what is real within you, for that alone...

It is the part of a wise man, I say, to refresh and restore himself in moderation with pleasant food and drink, with scents, with the beauty of green plants, with decoration, music, sports, the...

self-preservation is the primary and only foundation of virtue.

I have made a ceaseless effort not to ridicule, not to bewail, not to scorn human actions, but to understand them.

A free man thinks of nothing less than of death, and his wisdom is a meditation not on death but on life.

everyone endeavors as much as possible to make others love what he loves, and to hate what he hates… This effort to make everyone approve what we love or hate is in truth ambition, and...

He alone is free who lives with free consent under the entire guidance of reason

Most errors consist only in our not rightly applying names to things. For when someone says that the lines which are drawn from the center of a circle to its circumference are unequal, he surely...

The more clearly you understand yourself and your emotions, the more you become a lover of what is.