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

“Die Menschen tun das Böse nie so vollständig und begeistert, wie wenn sie es aus religiöser Überzeugung tun.”

“It is absurd of us to rely on the company of our fellows, as wretched and helpless as we are; they will not help us; we shall die alone.We must act then as if we were alone. If that were so, would we build superb houses, etc.? We should unhesitatingly look for the truth. And, if we refuse, it shows that we have a higher regard for men's esteem than for pursuing the truth.”

“Dass Worte etwas bewirkten, dass sie jemanden in Bewegung setzen oder aufhalten, zum Lachen oder Weinen bringen konnten: Schon als Kind hatte er es rätselhaft gefunden, und es hatte nie aufgehört, ihn zu beeindrucken. Wie machten die Worte das? War es nicht wie Magie?”

“When I see the blind and wretched state of men, when I survey the whole universe in its deadness, and man left to himself with no light, as though lost in this corner of the universe without knowing who put him there, what he has to do, or what will become of him when he dies, incapable of knowing anything, I am moved to terror, like a man transported in his sleep to some terrifying desert island, who wakes up quite lost, with no means of escape. Then I marvel that so wretched a state does not drive people to despair.”

“When you say that Christ did not die for all men, you are abusing a weakness of men, who at once apply this exception to themselves, and this encourages despair, instead of turning them away from it to encourage hope.”

“Truth is so obscure in these times, and falsehood so established, that, unless we love the truth, we cannot know it.”