"I would rather be damned with Plato and Lord Bacon, than go to heaven with Paley and Malthus."

"Man is a carnivorous production, and must have meals, at least once a day."

"When a man marries, dies, or turns Hindu, his best friends hear no more of him."

"I always go to bed with a book in my hand."

"I am an atheist, a republican, and a lover of mankind."