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Nature never deceives us; it is we who deceive ourselves.
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I also realized that the philosophers, far from ridding me of my vain doubts, only multiplied the doubts that tormented me and failed to remove any one of them. So I chose another guide and said, Let me follow the Inner Light; it will not lead me so far astray as others have done, or if it does it will be my own fault, and I shall not go so far wrong if I follow my own illusions as if I trusted to their deceits.
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Do not base your life on the judgments of others; first, because they are as likely to be mistaken as you are, and further, because you cannot know that they are telling you their true thoughts.
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Nothing is less in our power than the heart, and far from commanding we are forced to obey it.
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She was dull, unattractive, couldn't tell the time, count money or tie her own shoe laces... But I loved her
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Great men never make bad use of their superiority. They see it and feel it and are not less modest. The more they have, the more they know their own deficiencies.
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We have to have powder for our wigs; that is why so many poor people have no bread.
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Universal silence is taken to imply the consent of the people.
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Liberty is not to be found in any form of government; she is in the heart of the free man; he bears her with him everywhere.
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Ah, that is a perfume in which I delight; when they roast coffee near my house, I hasten to open the door to take in all the aroma.
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I was not much afraid of punishment, I was only afraid of disgrace.But that I feared more than death, more than crime, more than anything in the world. I should have rejoiced if the earth had swallowed me up and stifled me in the abyss. But my invincible sense of shame prevailed over everything . It was my shame that made me impudent, and the more wickedly I behaved the bolder my fear of confession made me. I saw nothing but the horror of being found out, of being publicly proclaimed, to my face, as a thief, as a liar, and slanderer.
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One may live tranquilly in a dungeon; but does life consist in living quietly?
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In a well governed state, there are few punishments, not because there are many pardons, but because criminals are rare; it is when a state is in decay that the multitude of crimes is a gaurantee of impunity.
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Accent is the soul of language; it gives to it both feeling and truth.
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The taste for splendor is hardly ever combined in the same souls with the taste for the honorable.
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It is hard to prevent oneself from believing what one so keenly desires.
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There as here, passions are the motive of all action, but they are livelier, more ardent, or merely simpler and purer, thereby assuming a totally different character. All the first movements of nature are good and right.
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Remorse goes to sleep during a prosperous period and wakes up in adversity. [Fr., Le remords s'endort durant un destin prospere et s'aigrit dans l'adversite.]
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I long remained a child, and I am still one in many respects.
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Liberty is obedience to the law which one has laid down for oneself
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That which renders life burdensome to us generally arises from the abuse of it.
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Everything is good as it comes from the hands of the Maker of the world, but degenerates once it gets into the hands of man
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Do not judge, and you will never be mistaken.
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A country cannot subsist well without liberty, nor liberty without virtue.