Philosophy Quotes

"Whoever wishes to found a state and give it laws must presuppose that all men are bad by nature."

"I have long been of opinion that the true end of life is not happiness but rather virtue."

"Belief in a cruel God makes a cruel man."

"The enlightened of every nation will make allowances for the weakness of their country."

"Motive and end are the source of virtue."

"The instant we fashion an image of God in our minds, we fashion a tyrant."

"Whenever we read the obscene stories, the voluptuous debaucheries, the cruel and torturous executions of an insatiable vengeance, attributed to the God of the Christian Bible, we feel outraged."

"All national institutions of churches, whether Jewish, Christian or Turkish, appear to me no other than human inventions."

"Mankind, when left alone, is foolish and wretched."

"I have no sympathies with party politics."

"Mankind will always remain bound by innate character no matter the circumstances."

"It is impossible to reason with a man who is not under the dominion of reason."

"Mankind are governed by the head and the heart, reason and passion."

"The free system of government is sustained by cultivating the virtue of the people."

"To suppose that any form of government will secure liberty or happiness without any virtue in the people is a chimerical idea."

"The love of liberty is the love of others; the love of power is the love of ourselves."

"The foundation of national policy shall be laid in the principles of private morality."

"If men were angels, no government would be necessary."

"The success of self-government depends on the virtue and wisdom of the people."

"The happiness of men depends upon the institutions under which they live."

"Bad men cannot make good citizens. It is impossible that a nation of infidels or idolaters should be a nation of freemen."

"Man, I have found, is always ready to sacrifice the liberty of others for his own liberty."

"Character is as much a function of intellect as it is of morality."

"When a man prefers the comforts of life to its principles, he is no longer fit to be called a man."

"There exists a law of nature, and we violate it at our peril."

"The foundation of national morality must be laid in the principles of private virtue."

"The harvest of our nation depends upon the virtue of its citizens."

"I have thought it my duty to exhibit things as they are, not as they ought to be."

"Take mankind in general, they are vain, selfish, and a little knavish."

"The human mind is not often in the humour to be amused with reason and argument."