Men seek rest in a struggle against difficulties; and when they have conquered these, rest becomes insufferable.

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

God instituted prayer to communicate to creatures the dignity of causality.

If we submit everything to reason our religion will be left with nothing mysterious or supernatural. If we offend the principles of reason our religion will be absurd and ridiculous . . . There are...

Kind words do not cost much. Yet they accomplish much

It is not the length of years but a multitude of generations that makes things obscure. For truth is only perverted when men change.

The virtue of a man ought to be measured not by his extraordinary exertions, but by his every-day conduct.

To make light of philosophy is to be a true philosopher.

Men never do evil so completely and cheerfully as when they do it from religious conviction.

No religion except ours has taught that man is born in sin; none of the philosophical sects has admitted it; none therefore has spoken the truth

Dull minds are never either intuitive or mathematical.

Nature has made all her truths independent of one another. Our art makes one dependent on the other.

I lay it down as a fact that if all men knew what others say of them, there would not be four friends in the world.

To ridicule philosophy is really to philosophize.

Kind words produce their images on men’s souls.

Nie betrieben die Menschen das Böse so umfassend und freudig wie aus religiöser Überzeugung.

To deny, to believe, and to doubt well, are to a man what the race is to a horse.