To make light of philosophy is to be a true philosopher.
It is natural for the mind to believe and for the will to love; so that, for want of true objects, they must attach themselves to false.
It is not good to be too free. It is not good to have everything one wants.
If we look at our work immediately after completing it, we are still too involved; if too long afterwards, we cannot pick up the thread again.
I cannot imagine a man without thought; he would be a stone or an animal.
Chance gives rise to thoughts, and chance removes them; no art can keep or acquire them. A thought has escaped me. I wanted to write it down. I write instead, that it has escaped me.
Two errors: 1. To take everything literally. 2. To take everything spiritually.
People almost invariably arrive at their beliefs not on the basis of proof but on the basis of what they find attractive.
Symmetry is what we see at a glance; based on the fact that there is no reason for any difference...
Contradiction is not a sign of falsity, nor the lack of contradiction a sign of truth.
Custom is our nature. What are our natural principles but principles of custom?
Desire and force between them are responsible for all our actions; desire causes our voluntary acts, force our involuntary.