"It is impossible for a man to be affected by any emotion unless he imagines something which excludes the existence of an external cause of that emotion."

"No one can desire to preserve his being without desiring to enjoy life."

"I have made a ceaseless effort not to ridicule, not to bewail, not to scorn human actions, but to understand them."

"Desire is the very essence of man."

"The intellectual love of God is eternal."