In revolution as in war, it is of the utmost necessity to risk everything at the decisive moment, whatever the risks may be.
1851-1852
Often what pleases them one day, displeases them the next; whatever efforts they make, it is not in their power to recall their past inclinations [...].
1742
If this republic that we dream of for ourselves is not to be found, then rest becomes a necessity for us all.
c. 62-65
When a certain number of people have agreed [...] to form a community [...], they make up a single political body, in which the majority has the right to decide and to act.
1690
Limestone statuette of a male votary (worshipper)
mid-6th century BCE
The relation of the cerebral state to representation may well be that of the screw to the machine, that is, of the part to the whole.
1919
The soul can only see and feel in general through the medium of a body: for, when it is completely separated from the body, it lives in the intelligible world.
c. 253-270 AD
My reverie had been consumed by the lamp of winter's wells...
1926
An intimate society between people who are radically different from each other is a pure reverie. Difference may attract, but it is resemblance that retains.
1869
A Man Seated and Asleep
ca. 1865
One can [...] call aversion a negative desire, hatred a negative love, ugliness a negative beauty, blame a negative praise.
1763
The mind must judge all things according to its inner lights, without listening to the false and confused testimony of its senses and its imagination.
1674-1675
Our sensibility, like any other object, manifests itself to us only through its effects. To trace back to its causes, we must first know it, and to know it, we must study its effects.
1817
The purpose of our foundation is to know the causes [...] and the secret virtues that nature contains [...]; to give to the empire of the human mind all the extension it can have.
1627
Marble statue of a kouros (youth)
ca. 590–580 BCE
[...] one cannot conceive of a Christian republic, one of these two words excluding the other. Christianity preaches only servitude and dependence.
1762
Consciousness, or the feeling of the self, proves a moral or personal identity.
1704
Naturally [the servant and the master] are not inferior to one another; they only become so momentarily by the effect of the contract.
1835-1840
The man whose heart is alive acts upon other living hearts, like the sun which gives life to the world.
4th century BC
Study Head of a Young Woman
ca. 1618–20
The harmony of these two attributes [judgment and spirit] is essential for great men, to provide them with [...] resources that are both certain and prompt.
1636
Everyone is biased to think that their feeling is the measure of others'. They do not believe that one can take pleasure in a thing that gives them none.
1755
One can only regard [he who is inspired by God] as the blind instrument of divine omnipotence.
1855
The finest renown [...] does not have the gift of immortality, it perishes with men and is extinguished in the oblivion of posterity.
54-51 BC
Bronze statuette of Minerva
2nd century CE
The necessary existence of God must be concluded from his [true] definition.
1661-1676
One came to command by favor of his reputation [...], the other arrived there, despised because of his previous position.
100-120 AD
Those who, without caring for the order and connection of the reasons, will amuse themselves by quibbling over each of the parts [...] will not profit much from the reading.
1641
To die proudly when it is no longer possible to live proudly.
1888
Limestone head of a girl
3rd century BCE
I always call reason that appearance of discourse which everyone forges in himself: this reason [...] is an instrument of lead and wax, stretchable, pliable, and adaptable to all biases and all measures.
1580
No one is more hated than he who speaks the truth.
c. 375 BC
All particular motives are errors. The energy that is not supplied by any motive is the only good one [...].
1947
The dogma of the Trinity therefore requires man to think the opposite of what he imagines and to imagine the opposite of what he thinks [...].
1841
Peasants Dancing
1651
One is nowhere as well hidden as in a crowd.
1893
If I knew it was my destiny to be sick, I would go towards the sickness of my own accord.
c. 108 AD
A hundred times I wanted to kill myself, but I still loved life.
1759
The censure of the wicked is an approval of our life; it is a clear sign that we are beginning to have some justice when we begin to displease those who do not please God.
1263-1264
Limestone statuette of a male votary with Cypriot shorts and a diadem
early 6th century BCE
A sovereign can shower his favorite with riches, but he cannot give him knowledge or virtue.
1773
True politicians know men better than those who make a profession of philosophy; I mean that they are truer philosophers.
1746
[...] irrational beings (animals, consequently) are things, and should be treated as means that are not at the same time ends. [...] I say that such thoughts are odious and abominable.
1840
There is an internal war in man between reason and the passions.
1670
The Newborn Baby
1675
What is reason? And what is right reason?
4th century BC
These swallows that go [...] are the messengers of spring.
1546/1563
Holy water [...] possesses, according to them, the most astonishing virtues; it makes sacred the places and things that were previously profane.
1766
In any country where the powerless law cannot protect the weak from the strong, one seeks wealth and positions [...] as a means of escaping oppression.
1772
Madonna and Child
ca. 1360–65