Considered in themselves, deep conscious states have no relation to quantity; they are pure quality; they intermingle in such a way that one cannot say whether they are one or several [...].
1889
All passions justify themselves: they constantly represent to the soul the object that stirs it, in the manner most suited to preserve and increase its agitation.
1674-1675
My desire to be loved [...] by my equals in the state of nature, imposes on me a natural obligation to bear them a like affection.
1690
It is the mark of a wise man to anticipate these declines [...] without waiting for his turn to experience them abruptly.
1636
Buckle with lion and boar
1st–3rd century CE
Men are not content with the obedience of women, they arrogate to themselves a right over their feelings. [...] they neglect nothing to enslave their minds.
1869
The danger of a repeat of the scenes of 'anarchy' [...] was imminent, and in the face of it, all differences vanished. Friends and enemies of many years united against the victorious worker.
1851-1852
The ultimate goal of earthly existence is to turn the will away from the will to live.
1836
To live is the trade I want to teach him. [...] he will be, first and foremost, a man: all that a man must be, he will know how to be when needed.
1762
Limestone finial of a funerary stele
late 5th or early 4th century BCE
In the pilgrimage of this life, man finds everywhere the opportunity to learn and subjects for meditation.
1609
Flight is an action that occupies the entire soul: when one is afraid, one forgets everything, even loved ones.
1953
To worship God is to know Him well.
63-64 AD
[...] the best general became useless if his troops were not submissive and obedient; thinking that the virtue of obedience, as much as that of command, requires [...] a generous nature [...].
100-120 AD
Wedding Procession
1841
[They] fought a long armed dispute over the archbishopric.
1753-1754
In the Christian religion, everything seems abandoned to the imagination, whims, and arbitrary decisions of its ministers [...].
1766
There is nothing [...] that does not serve the public good of the present time.
1574
In this, nature does not depart from its essential principle.
1580
The Bacino, Venice, with the Dogana and a Distant View of the Isola di San Giorgio
ca. 1709
From the mere fact that I have in me the idea of a thing more perfect than I am, it follows that this thing truly exists.
1641
Modesty [...] announces a distrust of one's own judgment, & a suitable deference for that of others; this quality is, especially in young people, a sure sign of wit & sense.
1751
It is cruel to live; when you have my experience, you will be even more disgusted with it.
1760
Can one not admire that it was only necessary to make man sensitive to pleasure and pain to give birth in him to ideas, desires, habits, and talents of all kinds?
1754
The Story of Esther
1422
The inequality of mind caused by the different constitution of men is [...] imperceptible.
1758
Be that as it may, you have examined a very important truth for those who research natural things, and by this examination, have obliged the public, and me in particular [...].
1653-1662
[...] your biblical faith is sincere [...] only when it accepts as the divine word everything, absolutely everything, that one reads in the Holy Scripture; but as soon as you establish distinctions [...] you are splitting hairs, you are nothing but hypocrites who pretend to be believers.
1841
There is nothing more miserably corrupt than an aristocracy that retains its wealth while losing its power, and which, reduced to vulgar pleasures, still possesses immense leisure.
1835-1840
Limestone inscribed box fragment
3900 BCE - 100 CE
It is by this sign that true holiness is recognized, as it is by this sign that the Savior recognizes his disciples.
1263-1264
I have lived my entire life in piety and justice; so that, feeling a keen admiration for myself, I have found that all those who associated with me had the same opinion of me.
4th century BC
I am very sorry to have only recently learned of these opinions [...]; if I had seen them sooner [...], they would have saved me much trouble and hesitation.
1805
One will certainly do well to separate the artist from his work to such an extent that it will not be possible to take him as seriously as his work.
1887
Spearhead
3900 BCE - 100 CE
We enjoy only people; the rest is nothing.
1746
It is a very important thing in this world to know oneself, and to know how to measure one's strength against the greatness of one's State.
1512-1527
One never gets used to jealousy; one endures it, one never recovers from it, as long as the cause remains.
1926
To act to please the world, [...] to study to be admired, to teach to get rich, to dress up in a disguise of goodness and equity [...] these are things I will never bring myself to do.
4th century BC
Marble portrait, probably of Matidia, niece of the emperor Trajan and mother of Sabina, wife of the emperor Hadrian
117–138 CE
The more associates there are and the more they react to one another, the more the product of these reactions extends beyond the organism.
1893
[Democritus maintains that] that which acts and that which is acted upon is fundamentally identical and similar, because he does not grant that different and entirely other things can be affected in any way by one another.
c. 350 B.C.E.
The less freedom of thought is granted to men, the more one departs from the state most natural to them, and consequently the more violent the government becomes.
1670
There is nothing to fear, as long as there is a single leader worthy of the name.
September 57 BC
Spoon probe
3900 BCE - 100 CE
Since to feel consists in perceiving, not intelligible things, but only sensible things, the soul [...] must have with them a relationship of knowledge or affection.
c. 253-270 AD
Every true republic is and can be nothing else than a representative system of the people, established to protect their rights in their name [...].
1797
Opinion, founded in the probable, also perhaps deserves the name of knowledge; otherwise almost all historical knowledge and much else will fall.
1704
It is by coveting what is not yours that you will lose what is yours.
c. 108 AD
Relief from casket
670 BCE - 330 CE