Patriotism is an ephemeral motive that scarcely ever outlasts the particular threat to society that aroused it. - Denis Diderot

All abstract sciences are nothing but the study of relations between signs.

... c'est la magie de la constance, la plus difficile et la plus rare de nos vertus.

The purpose of an encyclopedia is to collect knowledge disseminated around the globe; to set forth its general system to the men with whom we live, and transmit it to those who will come after us, so that the work of preceding centuries will not become useless to the centuries to come; and so that our offspring, becoming better instructed, will at the same time become more virtuous and happy, and that we should not die without having rendered a service to the human race in the future years to come