A Miracle Is A Violation Of The

Mankind Are Always Found Prodigal Both Of Blood And Treasure In The Maintenance Of Public Justice.

Scholastic Learning And Polemical Divinity Retarded The Growth Of All True Knowledge.

When Anyone Tells Me That He Saw A Dead Man Restored To Life, I Immediately Consider With Myself Whether It Be More Probable That This Person Should Either Deceive Or Be Deceived Or That The Fact Which He Relates Should Really Have Happened. I Weigh The One Miracle Against The Other And According To The Superiority Which I Discover, I Pronounce My Decision. Always I Reject The Greater Miracle. If The Falsehood Of His Testimony Would Be More Miraculous Than The Event Which He Relates, Then And Not Till Then, Can He Pretend To Command My Belief Or Opinion.

What Praise Is Implied In The Simple Epithet Useful! What Reproach In The Contrary.

All Ills Spring From Some Vice, Either In Ourselves Or Others; And Even Many Of Our Diseases Proceed From The Same Origin. Remove The Vices; And The Ills Follow. You Must Only Take Care To Remove All The Vices. If You Remove Part, You May Render The Matter Worse. By Banishing Vicious Luxury, Without Curing Sloth And An Indifference To Others, You Only Diminish Industry In The State, And Add Nothing To Men's Charity Or Their Generosity.