Great Throughts Treasury

"Love is like a charming romance which is read with avidity, and often with such impatience that many pages are skipped to reach the denouement sooner."

"Error and falsehood had their moment of usefulness and served as a brake on an enslaved and ignorant people. But from the moment when a nation becomes enlightened and free it both should and can only be governed by its own laws. When a temple is built its scaffolding becomes useless and harmful: it is taken down. Having reached the age of reason we reject the playthings of childhood. All we now need are public virtues and private morality."

"The aristocratic charters of 1791 and 1795 fastened your chains, rather than breaking them. That of 1793 was a significant step towards real equality: we have never been so close before or since, but it still did not fulfil our objectives or achieve common well-being."

"No more individual land ownership! The earth belongs to no-one. We demand, we desire common enjoyment of the fruits of the earth: these fruits belong to everyone."

"Do not be afraid of your God - be afraid of yourself. You are the creator of your own troubles and joys . Heaven and hell are in your own soul."

"Plan for a law prohibiting the alphabet to women."