Reading furnishes the mind only with materials of knowledge it is thinking that makes what we read ours.
Education begins the gentleman, but reading, good company and reflection must finish him.
The reason why men enter into society is the preservation of their property.
All men are liable to error and most men are, in many points, by passion or interest, under temptation to it.
There is frequently more to be learned from the unexpected questions of a child than the discourses of men.
Government has no other end, but the preservation of property.
The only fence against the world is a thorough knowledge of it.
Where all is but dream, reasoning and arguments are of no use, truth and knowledge nothing.
No man's knowledge here can go beyond his experience.
It is one thing to show a man that he is in an error, and another to put him in possession of the truth.
As people are walking all the time, in the same spot, a path appears.
Our incomes are like our shoes if too small, they gall and pinch us but if too large, they cause us to stumble and to trip.
All mankind... being all equal and independent, no one ought to harm another in his life, health, liberty or possessions.
It is of great use to the sailor to know the length of his line, though he cannot with it fathom all the depths of the ocean.