Claude Adrien Helvetius

“Truth is the torch that gleams through the fog without dispelling it.”

“Harsh counsels have no effect; they are like hammers, which are always repulsed by the anvil.”

“To limit the press is to insult a nation; to prohibit reading of certain books is to declare the inhabitants to be either fools or slaves.”

“Every man without passions has within him no principle of action, nor motive to act.”

“Discipline is simply the art of making the soldiers fear their officers more than the enemy.”

“There are men whom a happy disposition, a strong desire of glory and esteem, inspire with the same love for justice and virtue which men in general have for riches and honors... But the number of these men is so small that I only mention them in honor of humanity.”

“By annihilating the desires, you annihilate the mind. Every man without passions has within him no principle of action, nor motive to act.”

“Genius is nothing but continued attention.”