would always insist, that man in his fragile boat has the
rudder placed in his hand, just that he may not be at the mercy of the
waves, but follow the direction of his own insight.

If I am to listen to another man's opinion, it must be expressed
positively. Of things problematical I have enough in myself.

Piety is not an end, but a means: a means of attaining the highest
culture by the purest tranquility of soul. Hence it may be observed that
those who set up piety as an end and object are mostly hypocrites.

Reading ought to mean understanding; writing ought to mean knowing
something; believing ought to mean comprehending; when you desire a
thing, you will have to take it; when you demand it, you will not get
it; and when you are experienced, you ought to be useful to others.

The stream is friendly to the miller whom it serves; it likes to pour
over the mill wheels; what is the good of it stealing through the valley
in apathy?

Theory is in itself of no use, except in so far as it makes us believe
in the connection of phenomena.

"_Le sens common est le genie de l'humanite_." Common-sense, which is
here put forward as the genius of humanity, must be examined first of
all in the way it shows itself. If we inquire the purpose to which
humanity puts it, we find as follows: Humanity is conditioned by needs.
If they are not satisfied, men become impatient; and if they are, it
seems not to affect them. The normal man moves between these two states,
and he applies his understanding--his so-called common sense--to the
satisfaction of his needs. When his needs are satisfied, his task is to
fill up the waste spaces of indifference. Here, too, he is successful,
if his needs are confined to what is nearest and most necessary. But if
they rise and pass beyond the sphere of ordinary wants, common-sense is
no longer sufficient; it is a genius no more, and humanity enters on the
region of error.

There is no piece of foolishness but it can be corrected by intelligence
or accident; no piece of wisdom but it can miscarry by lack of
intelligence or by accident.

Justice insists on obligation, law on decorum. Justice weighs and
decides, law superintends and orders. Justice refers to the individual,
law to society.

The history of knowledge is a great fugue in which the voices of the
nations one after the other emerge.

If a man is to achieve all that is asked of him, he must take himself
for more than he is, and as long as