“It is an absurdity to believe that the Deity has human passions, and one of the lowest of human passions, a restless appetite for applause”

“When men are most sure and arrogant they are commonly most mistaken, giving views to passion without that proper deliberation which alone can secure them from the grossest absurdities.”

“Reason is, and ought only to be the slave of the passions.”

“When principles are so absurd and so destructive of human society, it may safely be averred, that the more sincere and the more disinterested they are, they only become the more ridiculous and the more odious.”

“Men's views of things are the result of their understanding alone. Their conduct is regulated by their understanding, their temper, and their passions.”

“The Crusades - the most signal and most durable monument of human folly that has yet appeared in any age or nation.”

“The feelings of our heart, the agitation of our passions, the vehemence of our affections, dissipate all its conclusions, and reduce the profound philosopher to a mere plebeian”