The enjoyment of freedom which could be exercised without any motivation would be the real hallmark of a maniac.

Man will never be free until the last king is strangled with the entrails of the last priest.

We swallow greedily any lie that flatters us, but we sip only little by little at a truth we find bitter.

All things must be examined, debated, investigated without exception and without regard for anyone's feelings.

Those who fear the facts will forever try to discredit the fact-finders.

Disturbances in society are never more fearful than when those who are stirring up the trouble can use the pretext of religion to mask their true designs.

Only passions, great passions, can elevate the soul to great things.

Skepticism is the first step on the road to philosophy.

Oh! how near are genius and madness! Men imprison them and chain them, or raise statues to them.

In general, children, like men, and men, like children, prefer entertainment to education.

Although a man may wear fine clothing, if he lives peacefully; and is good, self-possessed, has faith and is pure; and if he does not hurt any living being, he is a holy man.

Friendship, as has been said, consists in a full commitment of the will to another person with a view to that person's good.

There are crimes of passion and crimes of logic. The boundary between them is not clearly defined.

Men don't ask other men if they're getting home OK, they just assume that beneath the frail, weak exterior lurks a muscle-building kung fu master fearless of ever being mugged.

Political Islam is not a homogeneous bloc.

My work throughout my life is always representative of the time we live in. It's all about keeping it in order and keeping it in gear.

I definitely know that love is the most powerful thing of all.

No victim wants their record, or their minor story to be told. Every victim should have the right to tell their own story.

I'm more of a realist when it comes to life, and I'd much rather my mother be in a spiritual place in Heaven than in a bed, sick, fighting for her life.

People have been trained to criticize, insult, and otherwise communicate in ways that create distance among people.

[D]ifferent people have different quotational gravity.