“Social order at the expense of liberty is hardly a bargain”

“In order to know virtue, we must first acquaint ourselves with vice.”

“You say that my way of thinking cannot be tolerated? What of it? The man who alters his way of thinking to suit othere is a fool. My way of thinking is the result of my reflections. It is part of my inner being,the way I am made. I do not contradict them, and would not even if I wished to. For my system, which you disapprove of is also my greatest comfort in life, the source of all my happiness -it means more to me than my life itself.”

“The only way to a woman's heart is along the path of torment.”

“The impossibility of outraging nature is the greatest anguish man can know.”

“Nature has endowed each of us with a capacity for kindly feelings: let us not squander them on others.”

“If God permits virtue to be persecuted on earth, it is not for us to question his intentions. It may be that his rewards are held over for another life, for is it not true as written in Holy Scripture that the Lord chastenenth only the righteous! And after all, is not virtue it's own reward?”