Religions are born of it; it was to possess the infinite that Cato cut his throat, that the Christians delivered themselves to lions, the Huguenots to the Catholics; all the people of the earth have stretched out their hands to that immensity and have longed to plunge into it.

The fool wishes to possess heaven; the sage admires it, kneels before it, but does not desire it.
"Perfection, my friend, is no more made for us than immensity.

We must seek for nothing in it, demand nothing of it, neither love nor beauty, happiness nor virtue; but we must love it if we would be virtuous, if we would attain the greatest happiness of which man is capable.
"Let us suppose you have in your study a picture by Raphael that you consider perfect.

Let us say that upon a close examination you discover in one of the figures a gross defect of design, a limb distorted, or a muscle that belies nature, such as has been discovered, they say, in one of the arms of an antique gladiator.

You would experience a feeling of displeasure, but you would not throw that picture in the fire; you would merely say that it is not perfect, but that it has qualities that are worthy of admiration.
"There are women whose natural singleness of heart and sincerity are such that they could not have two lovers at the same time.