“I was not; I have been; I am not; I do not mind.”

“Why should I fear death?If I am, then death is not.If Death is, then I am not.Why should I fear that which can only exist when I do not?Long time men lay oppressed with slavish fear.Religious tyranny did domineer.At length the mighty one of GreeceBegan to assent the liberty of man.”

“I have never wished to cater to the crowd; for what I know they do not approve, and what they approve I do not know.”

“I was not, I was, I am not, I care not. (Non fui, fui, non sum, non curo)”

“Never say that I have taken it, only that I have given it back.”

“Haec ego non multis (scribo), sed tibi: satis enim magnum alter alteri theatrum sumus. I am writing this not to many, but to you: certainly we are a great enough audience for each other.”

“I never desired to please the rabble. What pleased them, I did not learn; and what I knew was far removed from their understanding.”