Sometimes it seems to me that those who make up worldly society secretly know their true worth. I have noticed several times that they respect people who do not consider this society in any way. Often, in order to win the world's appreciation, you just have to despise it deeply, nay more: despise it sincerely,... without boasting.
Almost all men are slaves, and this is explained in the same way that the Spartans explained the abjection of the Persians: they are unable to say no.
Honor without respect is the reward for undeserved conceit.
Once upon a time, love affairs were fascinatingly mysterious, and now they are fascinatingly scandalous.
The courtiers are paupers who made their fortunes by begging for alms.
It is said that one day Peter the Great suddenly decided to transform Russia. But even Voltaire admits that Peter's father, Aleksei, also wanted to cultivate the arts and sciences in Russia. In anything, you have to wait for favorable conditions to appear. Happy is the one who comes exactly when they are already baked.
In our country, divorce is so common that in many homes it rests every night in the matrimonial bed between husband and wife.
With those whom we know only half we are the same as with strangers; what we only know three-quarters of, we do not really know at all. These two observations are enough for us to rightly appreciate almost all conversations between people.
Let's say it directly: only the one who has completely snatched certain parts of his soul lives happily.
Weak-willed men are the light cavalry of the army of evil men: they do more harm than the army itself, for they destroy and desolate everything.
Merits too great make a man unfit for society: you do not go to the market with gold bars; you go with silver or change.
With happiness, things are the same as with watches: the simpler the mechanism, the less often it breaks.
The contemplative life is often very bleak. You need more action, less thought, and not being an alienated witness to your own life.
First love, then marriage: first flames, then smoke.
It is said that the most beautiful woman cannot give more than she has. It is not true at all: she gives the man absolutely everything he expects from her because in such relationships the price is set by the imagination.
It is recognized that people become attached to those they have helped. This demonstrates the goodness of nature: the ability to love is truly a well-deserved reward for a good deed.
Most people who collect poems or epigrams are like people who eat cherries or clams: they pick the best first and end up eating everything.
Vanity is a property of weak and perverse natures, while thoughtful self-love is inherent in decent people.
Conviction is the consciousness of the mind.
The ability to please is usually considered a success, but through the ability to bore you can be even more successful: this, in fact, is the art of succeeding, as well as the art of impressing women.
A philosopher considers himself the man who knows the price of each: is there any point in being surprised if his opinions are not to anyone's liking?
Philosophy, like medicine, often fills us with bad cures, rarely with good cures, and almost never suggests really useful drugs.
A poor but independent man serves only his own need; a rich but dependent man serves someone else, even several at the same time.
Ambition kindles sordid souls much more easily than sublime ones: a haystack or a cottage burns faster than a palace.
What is a mistress? a woman with whom you forget what you knew by heart. In other words, all the disadvantages of women.
What is a philosopher? This is a man who opposes the laws of nature, custom, mind, conventional opinion, conscience, and prejudice, his own opinion.
For relationships between men and women to be truly fascinating, they must be united by pleasure, memory, or desire.
I have seen both men and women in the world, who sought not feelings in response, but actions in response; moreover, they would not give up action, if it gave rise to feeling.
I created in my mind the image of a woman who exists in too few copies, and who protects me from other women - of which there are many.
Everything I learned, I forgot. The little I still know, I guessed.