Men never do evil so completely and cheerfully as when they do it from religious conviction.
If God does not exist, one will lose nothing by believing in him, while if he does exist, one will lose everything by not believing.
The heart has its reasons which reason knows nothing of.
It is man's natural sickness to believe that he possesses the Truth.
Thinking too little about things or thinking too much both make us obstinate and fanatical.
We would never travel on the sea if we had no hope of telling about it later... We lose our lives with joy provided people talk about it... Even philosophers wish for admirers.
We understand nothing of the works of God unless we take it as a principle that He wishes to blind some and to enlighten others.
This is what I see, and what troubles me. I look on all sides, and everywhere I see nothing but obscurity. Nature offers me nothing that is not a matter of doubt and disquiet.
The two principles of truth, reason and senses, are not only both not genuine, but are engaged in mutual deception. The senses deceive reason through false appearances, and the senses are disturbed by passions, which produce false impressions.
Man is a reed, the weakest of nature, but he is a thinking reed.
Knowledge of physical science will not console me for ignorance of morality in time of affliction, but knowledge of morality will always console me for ignorance of physical science.
If we look at our work immediately after completing it, we are still too involved; if too long afterwards, we cannot pick up the thread again.
People almost invariably arrive at their beliefs not on the basis of proof but on the basis of what they find attractive.
Man governs himself more by impulse than reason.
Not being able to fortify justice, they justified force.
Justice without force is powerless; force without justice is tyrannical.
Wisdom leads us back to childhood.
Why are you killing me for your own benefit? I am unarmed. Why, do you not live on the other side of the water? My friend, if you lived on this side, I should be a murderer, but since you live on the other side, I am a brave man and it is right.
What amazes me the most is to see that everyone is not amazed at his own weakness.
What a Chimera is man! What a novelty, a monster, a chaos, a contradiction, a prodigy! Judge of all things, an imbecile worm of the earth; depository of truth, and sewer of error and doubt; the glory and refuse of the universe.
The fairest man in the world is not allowed to be judge in his own cause.
The eternal silence of these infinite spaces terrifies me.
Our reason is always disappointed by the inconsistency of appearances.
One must have deeper motives and judge everything accordingly, but go on talking like an ordinary person.
Man is so made that if he is told often enough that he is a fool he believes it.
