“It is not inequality which is the real misfortune, it is dependence.”

“The first step, my son, which one makes in the world, is the one on which depends the rest of our days.”

“The longer we dwell on our misfortunes, the greater is their power to harm us”

“I know many books which have bored their readers, but I know of none which has done real evil.”

“Life is thickly sown with thorns, and I know no other remedy than to pass quickly through them. The longer we dwell on our misfortunes, the greater is their power to harm us.”

“The comfort of the rich depends upon an abundant supply of the poor.”

“Our character is composed of our ideas and our feelings: and, since it has been proved that we give ourselves neither feelings nor ideas, our character does not depend on us. If it did depend on us, there is nobody who would not be perfect. If one does not reflect, one thinks oneself master of everything; but when one does reflect, one realizes that one is master of nothing”