Weakness on both sides is, the motto of all quarrels.
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History is only the pattern of silken slippers descending the stairs to the thunder of hobnailed boots climbing upward from below.
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Originality is nothing but judicious plagiarism.
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Superstition is to religion what astrology is to astronomy; the mad daughter of a wise mother.
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Four thousand volumes of metaphysics will not teach us what the soul is.
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The public is a ferocious beast. One must either chain it up or flee from it.
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To announce truths is an infallible receipt for being persecuted.
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A long dispute means that both parties are wrong
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Shun idleness is the rust that attaches itself to the most brilliant metals.
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Truth is a fruit which should not be plucked until it is ripe.
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The only way to compel men to speak good of us is to do it.
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In general, the art of government consists in taking as much money as possible from one party of the citizens to give to the other.
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All kinds are good except the kind that bores you.
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The Pope is an idol whose hands are tied and whose feet are kissed.
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History is nothing but a pack of tricks that we play upon the dead.
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He who dies before many witnesses always does so with courage.
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Superstition sets the whole world in flames; philosophy quenches them.
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We are all full of weakness and errors; let us mutually pardon each other our follies it is the first law of nature.
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If there were only one religion in England there would be danger of despotism, if there were two, they would cut each other's throats, but there are thirty, and they live in peace and happiness.
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You must have the devil in you to succeed in the arts.
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When one man speaks to another man who doesn't understand him, and when the man who's speaking no longer understands, it's metaphysics.
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History is just the portrayal of crimes and misfortunes.
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All the known world, excepting only savage nations, is governed by books.
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We owe respect to the living. To the dead we owe only truth.
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Perfection is attained by slow degrees; she requires the hand of time.
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It is new fancy rather than taste which produces so many new fashions.
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My prayer to God is a very short one: O Lord, make my enemies look ridiculous! God has granted it.
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All people are equal, it is not birth, it is virtue alone that makes the difference.
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God is always on the side of the heaviest battalions.
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I die adoring God,loving my friends, not hating my enemies, and detesting superstition.
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