I hate ugliness. You know I'm allergic to ugliness.
I have ever held it as a maxim never to do that through another which it was impossible for me to execute myself
If we only wanted to be happy, it would be easy; but we want to be happier than other people, and that is almost always difficult, since we think them happier than they are.
The less men think, the more they talk.
The alms given to a naked man in the street do not fulfil the obligations of the state, which owes to every citizen a certain subsistence, a proper nourishment, convenient clothing, and a kind of life not incompatible with health.
They who love to inform themselves, are never idle. Though I have no business of consequence to take care of, I am nevertheless continually employed. I spend my life in examining things: I write down in the evening whatever I have remarked, what I have seen, and what I have heard in the day: every thing engages my attention, and every thing excites my wonder: I am like an infant, whose organs, as yet tender, are strongly affected by the slightest objects.
Political liberty in a citizen is that tranquillity of spirit which comes from the opinion each one has of his security, and in order for him to have this liberty the government must be such that one citizen cannot fear another citizen.
This was another of our fears: that Life wouldn't turn out to be like Literature.
Tempus wanders eternally, bringing death to whomever loves him and being spurned by whomsoever he shall love.
You can fool everyone else, but you can't fool your own mind.
So here comes Gabriel again, and what he says is "Good tidings of great joy for all people. " That's why the shepherds are first: they represent all the nameless, all the working stiffs, the great wheeling population of the whole world.