An empire that becomes depopulated and falls into ruin would not be any greater for having extended its borders.
1776
Habits, as they gain strength, are transformed into rules of conduct. The past predetermines the future.
1893
Listen to the protestations of men, there is nothing of which they are so assured as the truth of their religion. Look at their conduct: you will doubt they ever had any religion at all.
1757
Courage has more resources against misfortunes than reason.
1747
The Crucifixion
ca. 1325–30
The Mind [...] assembles under a single point of view things that are very distant, and independent of one another.
1689
There is [...] by the fact of nature and for the purpose of the conservation of species, a being that commands, and a being that obeys.
c. 350 BCE
Thus the Cartesian principle [I think, therefore I am] is good, but it is not the only one of its kind.
1704
A false idea, but clear and precise, will always have more power in the world than a true but complex one.
1835-1840
Portrait of a Woman
ca. 1800
I am poor, but I have a just opinion of poverty; what does it matter to me then that I am pitied for my poverty!
c. 108 AD
By saying that the present-day relations [...] are natural, the economists imply that these are eternal laws [...]. Thus, there has been history, but there is no longer any.
1847
A good Christian, who literally follows the conduct prescribed by the Gospel [...] can only be a useless misanthrope if he lacks energy, and a turbulent fanatic if his soul is impassioned.
1766
The people rarely foresee the evils that an established tyranny prepares for them.
1758
Faustine Léo (1832–1865)
1842
It is a poor defense, when dealing with an established crime, to fall back on some minor service.
86-82 BC
The 'power of the people over themselves' does not express the true state of the case; [...] self-government [...] is not the government of each by himself, but of each by all the rest.
1859
Philosophy is not a cosmo-theogony [...]. It is the science of silent spirits, of the principles and laws that direct nature and humanity.
1842-1845
A great proof of [...] superiority is that, without having received any personal insult, he ran up against the wicked for the interest of others.
100-120 AD
Bronze handles of a hydria (water jar)
early 5th century BCE
The principles of a possible experience are therefore at the same time universal laws of nature, which can be known a priori.
1783
[The art of] persuading one is similar to [that of] persuading the many.
End of the 4th century BC
It is therefore evident that in a finite portion of matter or in a finite mind, one cannot find enough reality to see the infinite.
1707
In divine matters, [...] it is in old age that virtue has more brilliance, more skill, more application, without age posing any obstacle.
1263-1264
Rodolfo Gonzaga (1451–1495)
1490
It is certain that, without this ordeal, clemency and other virtues [...] would never have been so noticed or so esteemed as they will be in the future by all who read the story.
1643-1649
Let us be careful not to complain about what God takes from us that is dear; instead, let us thank him for having lent it to us for so long.
1643-1662
Art is above decency.
1926
The course of an individual's life, however complicated it may appear, forms an orderly whole, having its determined tendency and its meaningful significance, just like the most carefully composed epic.
1836
The Seine: Morning
1874
A free judgment offends the ears of the great.
1574
[The] body politic thus denatured would soon fall prey to the violence against which it was instituted.
1762
Nothing happens within us of which we cannot be conscious.
c. 1660
Chrysippus taught that mixtion is broader than temperation.
c. 253-270 AD
Portrait of a Woman
1785
When one has embraced a certain station in life, one must know how to endure its displeasures.
1741-1784
Although a passion, for being secret, is no less a passion, [...] it matters greatly to know how to make a mystery of it.
1636
A man who is deprived of any advantage never loses the memory of it: the slightest need is enough to revive it.
1513-1519
If ever a power threatened the entire earth, it is that which [...] held the right to the throne and the altar, the sword and enthusiasm.
1756
Bolt
7000 BCE - 330 CE
One cannot desire the cross. One could desire any degree of asceticism or heroism, but not the cross, which is penal suffering.
1947
...the love of plunder and the spirit of vengeance overriding respect for authority and the observance of military discipline.
1580
To have a thought of revenge, without the strength or courage to carry it out, is to drag along a chronic illness, a poisoning of the body and soul.
1878
If [the propositions of a syllogism] were perfectly equal, one would say nothing more than the other, and we would be no more advanced at the third than at the first.
1817
Bronze cauldron
7th century BCE
Civil history [...] by its importance and authority, holds the first rank among human writings.
1623
A posteriori and a priori denote [...] differences in nature or value, but not a chronological anteriority or posteriority.
1900
The superior man gazes into the depths of the azure sky, into the depths of the terrestrial abysses, [...] without his vital spirits being in the least disturbed.
4th century BC
Who speaks with affectation, if not one who wishes to be a tasteless speaker?
63-64 AD
Filippo Archinto (born about 1500, died 1558), Archbishop of Milan
mid-1550s