James Wood, comp. Dictionary of Quotations. 1899.
Helvetius
Every man without passions has within him no principle of action nor motive to act.
Greedy misers rail at sordid misers.
He who has no passions has no principle, nor motive to act.
If you would love mankind, you should not expect too much from them.
In order to love mankind, we must not expect too much of them.
La justice de nos jugements et de nos actions n’est jamais que la rencontre heureuse de notre intérêt avec l’intérêt public—The justice of our judgment and actions is never anything but the happy coincidence of our private with the public interest.
Le bonheur des peuples dépend et de la félicité dont ils jouissent au dedans et du respect qu’ils inspirent au dehors—The welfare of nations depends at once on the happiness which they enjoy at home and the respect which they command abroad.
The amount of intellect necessary to please us is a most accurate measure of the amount of intellect we have ourselves.