A ship that is large on a river is very small on the sea.
63-64 AD
Science is like water. [...] some comes from heaven; others spring from the earth.
1623
The people, consequently, may desire to oppress a part of their number; and precautions are as much needed against this as against any other abuse of power.
1859
all men are almost always led to believe not by proof, but by what is pleasing. This way is base, unworthy, and foreign: thus everyone disavows it.
circa 1658
Leisure Time in an Elegant Setting
ca. 1663–65
I learned to dwell where no one dwells, in the arid zones, forgetting man, God, blasphemy, and prayer.
1886
Our entire inner life is something like a single sentence begun at the first awakening of consciousness, a sentence strewn with commas, but nowhere cut by full stops.
1919
It seems that no moral quality has ever been regarded as a virtue [...], unless it was useful or agreeable either to the one who possesses it or to others.
1751
Perhaps [...] it is out of benevolence that the god grants me [...] to end my life not only at the most suitable time, but in the least painful way.
4th century BC
Study of a Nude Man
early 1840s
It is often forbidden for good people [to speak], for fear that a free judgment might offend the ears of the great.
1574
All that is beautiful in the world, it holds from the One who formed it, but all that happens [...] that is bad and unjust, it receives from that prior state.
c. 253-270 AD
I see everywhere men, more cunning and more educated than the common folk, deceiving them with illusions [...] that they believe to be supernatural, because they are ignorant of the secrets of nature and the resources of art.
1766
There can be no injustice where there is no property.
1689
Head of Saint John the Baptist
1636
Men [...] rise above beasts, in that they see the connections of truths; connections [...] which themselves constitute necessary and universal truths.
1704
Under bad princes, [...] it is the present evil that makes one tremble; all hope is in the future; men hope that from his excesses, liberty may be born.
1855
Our writings operate only on a certain class of citizens, our speeches on all.
1741-1784
We call habit the permanent disposition, the way of being, that arises from frequent repetition: this is the true meaning of the word habit.
1801
Marble head of a woman wearing diadem and veil
425–400 BCE
'We recognize the principle of the decline of humanity, and consequently the necessity of its regeneration; we believe in the possibility of this regeneration [...].'
1896
I appeal to my courage and my sword.
1636
Workers should no longer be ignorant of what they are making [...]; they must be given the feeling of collaborating in a work, the notion of the coordination of tasks.
1934-1942
[Prosperity is] the largest population that [...] is reconciled with the abundance to which all citizens have a right to claim.
1776
Portrait of a Woman
1838
I desire neither reputation nor fortune, because these things do not bring happiness.
4th century BC
We have been led, by the very force of things, to create for ourselves a more defined method, [...] more precisely adapted to the particular nature of social phenomena.
1895
Madmen do not pass for what they are among the mad who resemble them, but only among reasonable men.
1674-1675
A fool can have a great deal of intelligence [...]. He can absolutely give very good advice to others, although his advice is worthless to himself.
1764
Statuette of a warrior-10
7000 BCE - 30 BCE
There are sensitive egoists, [...] who suffer from the misfortune of those who love them, because it disturbs their own peace of mind.
1926
Only theft can still save property; only perjury, religion; bastardy, the family; disorder, order!
1851/1852
The emperor was named in the bull the head of the world, caput orbis.
1756
[The ideal democracy is one] where, without exception, all those who obey only the laws of their country, who are moreover their own masters and live honestly, have the right to vote.
1677
Portrait of a Young Boy
1636
Such excuses, if they were admitted, would leave the greatest crimes unpunished.
86-82 BC
Desire and satiety cause us equal pain both before and after pleasure.
1580
The palace of the Caesars received, in a shorter space of time, four emperors, the soldiers bringing one in while chasing another out, just as on a stage.
100-120 AD
In general, when you want to hide your thought, you must question in such a way that [...] even when the conclusion is given, the interlocutor is still asking why.
End of the 4th century BC
Spatula
3900 BCE - 100 CE
The very pain that pity causes you to feel makes you worthy of pity.
c. 108 AD
The located thing and the place are in an adequate relation.
c. 1270
[One must] make it so that the principal contentment depends only on oneself.
1643-1649
In America, much more zeal and activity are brought to certain improvements than is done elsewhere. In Europe, an infinitely smaller, but more continuous, social force is employed for these same things.
1835-1840
Pansies
1903
Invention is the sole proof of genius.
1746
Each one began to look at the others and to want to be looked at himself, and public esteem acquired a price. [...] this was the first step towards inequality, and at the same time towards vice.
1755
Whatever torch we may light, whatever space it may illuminate, our horizon will always remain shrouded in a deep night.
1819
What does it matter to booksellers? The public buys; that is enough for them.
1758
Portrait of a Man, Possibly an Architect or Geographer
1597