It is a farce to call any being virtuous whose virtues do not result from the exercise of it's own reason

Nothing contributes so much to tranquilize the mind as a steady purpose a point on which the soul may fix its intellectual eye

Life is obstinate and clings closest where it is most hated

My dreams were all my own; I accounted for them to nobody; they were my refuge when annoyed - my dearest pleasure when free

No man chooses evil because it is evil; he only mistakes it for happiness, the good he seeks

It is justice, not charity, that is wanting in the world

The same energy of character which renders a man a daring villain would have rendered him useful in society, had that society been well organized