Paul [...] teaches that no one can glory in their works, but in faith alone [...]. James, on the contrary, says [...] that man is justified by his works and not by faith alone.
1670
[Our philosophy] does not flatter the human mind by marrying the prejudices with which it is filled, [...] and it can only be grasped through its effects and its utility.
1620
This proves not only that the brutes have less reason than men, but that they have none at all.
1637
Nothing makes us more worthy of divine benevolence than the care we take of our neighbor.
1263-1264
Two Children Teasing a Cat
1587
The great beast is the only object of idolatry, the only ersatz of God, the only imitation of an object that is infinitely distant from me and that is me.
1947
These two drivers of conduct [egoism and altruism] have been present from the beginning in all human consciousnesses.
1893
Man is extremely subject to error; the illusions of his senses, the visions of his imagination, and the abstractions of his mind deceive him at every moment.
1674-1675
Men's maxims reveal their hearts.
1746
Sunset after a Storm on the Coast of Sicily
1853
[...] praise the goodness of kings [...] and the submission of their subjects.
c. 1552-1553
Faith is a virtue invented by men who feared the enlightenment of reason, who wanted to deceive their fellow men in order to subject them to their own authority [...].
1766
It is impossible to establish anything precise when one wants to set limits on the freedom of trade. Where, indeed, would one place these limits?
1776
He lets all beings evolve according to their destinies, and stands, himself, at the still center of all destinies.
4th century BC
Portrait of a Man
ca. 1515
Similar scenes were taking place [...] without anyone failing to perform the five daily prayers ordered by Mohammed.
1759
In any society, the individual who knows the facts is like the guide a group of friends hires to climb a mountain.
1870
To make a great effect, one must [...] always present clear and distinct ideas.
1772
When I imagine, I assemble differently ideas that I have already had; [...] but all this by virtue of my perceiving them and making judgments about them.
1817
Upper part of the marble stele (grave marker) of Kallidemos
ca. 350–325 BCE
The feeling of justice may be a particular instinct, and yet require, like all our other instincts, the supervision and enlightenment of a higher reason.
1861
[...] old age upon which all infirmities converge, and that without any relief.
4th century BC
There is nothing better suited to remind philosophers and statesmen of modesty than the history of our Revolution; for there were never events greater, [...] better prepared, and less foreseen.
1856
Thought is an action and cannot be the essence: but it is an essential action, and all substances have such.
1704
Portrait of a Man
1750
Whoever wishes to reform an old constitution in a free state must retain at least the shadow of ancient customs.
1855
The contradiction in the revelation of God.
1841
Objects have no value in themselves; they are worth only the price that our soul attaches to them.
1742
Truthfulness in statements that one cannot avoid is the formal duty of man towards everyone, whatever the serious disadvantage that may result from it [...].
1797
Saint John the Evangelist Raises Drusiana
ca. 1460
Love—its means is war, and its foundation is the mortal hatred of the sexes.
1888
If war does not give the victor the right to massacre the vanquished peoples, this right he does not have cannot found the right to enslave them.
1762
From the fact that the will always depends on the motives that determine it, must we conclude that the will is not free? No; for these motives that determine me are my motives.
1839
The passions, those harsh mistresses of the soul, [...] lead to all crimes those whom they have inflamed with their seductions.
54-51 BC
Judith with the Head of Holofernes
ca. 1640
[A quick mind] is [...] the torch that illuminates in doubt, [...] the thread of Ariadne with which one can exit a labyrinth of the most entangled affairs.
1636
Where are the men who suffer with patience to be stripped of the goods they have acquired by their industry [...] for a matter of conscience, which is accountable only to God.
1686
Every genus is properly attributed to its species; however, harmony is attributed not properly, but only metaphorically, to prudence.
End of the 4th century BC
Each part of the air contains the entire visible object: now this cannot be explained by a corporeal affection, but by higher laws, proper to the soul [...].
c. 253-270 AD
Patera
mid 6th century BCE
The strongest and best-constituted soul is that which is neither made proud nor enervated by success, and which is not cast down by adversity.
100-120 AD
The mechanism of the association of ideas is here of an extreme complication.
1900
Let us be grateful to the gods, let us be grateful to men, and let us be grateful to those who have done some good either for us or for our own.
1st century AD
[...] almost all of philosophy consists in seeking ways not to be hindered in what one desires and what one wants to avoid.
c. 108 AD
Serpentinite pendant
ca. 3900–2500 BCE
[He] wants to conquer, not by surprise, but by sheer force of arms.
1580
When I have hurt even a stranger, my pain begins when theirs ceases.
1765-1769
The instrument compensates for the defect of ignorance [...], and through necessary movements, it performs by itself, without even the intention of its user, all possible shortcuts.
1642-1645
The emancipation of the oppressed class thus necessarily implies the creation of a new society.
1847
Head of a Child
1768