Although a man may wear fine clothing, if he lives peacefully; and is good, self-possessed, has faith and is pure; and if he does not hurt any living being, he is a holy man...
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Distance is a great promoter of admiration!
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Every man has his dignity. I'm willing to forget mine, but at my own discretion and not when someone else tells me to.
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Evil always turns up in this world through some genius or other.
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If you want me to believe in God, you must make me touch him.
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In order to shake a hypothesis, it is sometimes not necessary to do anything more than push it as far as it will go.
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It is said that desire is a product of the will, but the converse is in fact true: will is a product of desire.
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Justice is the first virtue of those who command, and stops the complaints of those who obey.
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Man will never be free until the last king is strangled with the entrails of the last priest.
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Morals are in all countries the result of legislation and government; they are not African or Asian or European: they are good or bad.
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Only passions, great passions can elevate the soul to great things.
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People praise virtue, but they hate it, they run away from it. It freezes you to death, and in this world you've got to keep your feet warm.
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Pithy sentences are like sharp nails which force truth upon our memory.
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Sentences are like sharp nails, which force truth upon our memories.
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The arbitrary rule of a just and enlightened prince is always bad. His virtues are the most dangerous and the surest form of seduction: they lull a people imperceptibly into the habit of loving, respecting, and serving his successor, whoever that successor may be, no matter how wicked or stupid.
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The best doctor is the one you run to and can't find.
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The decisions of law courts should never be printed: in the long run, they form a counter authority to the law.
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The infant runs toward it with its eyes closed, the adult is stationary, the old man approaches it with his back turned.
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The possibility of divorce renders both marriage partners stricter in their observance of the duties they owe to each other. Divorces help to improve morals and to increase the population.
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There are things I can't force. I must adjust. There are times when the greatest change needed is a change of my viewpoint.
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There is no moral precept that does not have something inconvenient about it.
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There is only one passion, the passion for happiness.
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To attempt the destruction of our passions is the height of folly. What a noble aim is that of the zealot who tortures himself like a madman in order to desire nothing, love nothing, feel nothing, and who, if he succeeded, would end up a complete monster!
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Watch out for the fellow who talks about putting things in order! Putting things in order always means getting other people under your control.
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We swallow greedily any lie that flatters us, but we sip only little by little at a truth we find bitter.
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When science, art, literature, and philosophy are simply the manifestation of personality they are on a level where glorious and dazzling achievements are possible, which can make a man's name live for thousands of years. But above this level, far above,
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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.
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You have to make it happen.
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