"Man is neither angel nor beast, and the misfortune is that he who would act the angel acts the beast."

"The true religion teaches us our duties, our weaknesses, the pride and self-love that corrupt us, and the remedies which will cure us."

"We are generally more persuaded by the reasons we have ourselves discovered than by those which have been discovered by others."

"Men never do evil so completely and cheerfully as when they do it from religious conviction."

"All men's miseries derive from not being able to sit in a quiet room alone."