Pithy sentences are like sharp nails which force truth upon our memory.
Pithy sentences are like sharp nails which force truth upon our memory.
Author: Denis Diderot
We swallow greedily any lie that flatters us but we sip only little by little at a truth we find bitter.
We swallow greedily any lie that flatters us but we sip only little by little at a truth we find bitter.
If there is one realm in which it is essential to be sublime it is in wickedness. You spit on a petty thief but you can't deny a kind of respect for the great criminal.
If there is one realm in which it is essential to be sublime it is in wickedness. You spit on a petty thief but you can't deny a kind of respect for the great criminal.
Disturbances in society are never more fearful than when those who are stirring up the trouble can use the pretext of religion to mask their true designs.
Disturbances in society are never more fearful than when those who are stirring up the trouble can use the pretext of religion to mask their true designs.
Power acquired by violence is only a usurpation and lasts only as long as the force of him who commands prevails over that of those who obey.
Power acquired by violence is only a usurpation and lasts only as long as the force of him who commands prevails over that of those who obey.
Poetry must have something in it that is barbaric vast and wild.
Poetry must have something in it that is barbaric vast and wild.
Patriotism is an ephemeral motive that scarcely ever outlasts the particular threat to society that aroused it.
Patriotism is an ephemeral motive that scarcely ever outlasts the particular threat to society that aroused it.
Our observation of nature must be diligent our reflection profound and our experiments exact. We rarely see these three means combined and for this reason creative geniuses are not common.
Our observation of nature must be diligent our reflection profound and our experiments exact. We rarely see these three means combined and for this reason creative geniuses are not common.
It is not human nature we should accuse but the despicable conventions that pervert it.
It is not human nature we should accuse but the despicable conventions that pervert it.
No man has received from nature the right to command his fellow human beings.
No man has received from nature the right to command his fellow human beings.
Good music is very close to primitive language.
Good music is very close to primitive language.
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.
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.