"If we suspect that a man is lying, we should pretend to believe him, for then he becomes bold and assured, lies more energetically, and is unmasked."

"It would be better if there were nothing. Since there is more pain than pleasure on earth, every satisfaction is only transitory, creating new desires and new distresses, and the agony of the devoured…"

"In order to live a life that is truly worth living, one must at some point become thoroughly disgusted with it."

"The person who writes for fools is always sure of a large audience."

"If children were brought into the world by an act of pure reason alone, would the human race continue to exist? Would not a man rather have so much sympathy with the coming generation as to spare it t…"