128
—— obscure and clear, 129
—— has two senses, 157
—— against those who misuse passages of, 166
—— manner of understanding that contradictory passages of, must agree, 167
—— superiority of, over the most ancient books of other peoples, 173
—— preserved by the Jews, and is a witness of their sincerity, 173
—— full of matters not dictated by the Holy Spirit, 206
—— without the, we know nothing of the nature of God nor our own nature, 226
Self, hatred of, necessary, 238
—— is hateful, 84
Self-love, its nature, 84
—— how it should be regulated, 237
—— source of all confusion, 239
Seneca, quotations from, 110
Sensation, no misery apart from, 47
Sense of the prophecies always the same, 171
—— there are various kinds of good, 311
Senses deceive the reason, 51
Sensuality, men have drawn rules from, 69
—— manner in which it is used, 70
Sepulchre of Jesus Christ, 234
Sermon, how some people listen to the, 316
Servant, relation to his master, 293
Shem, 126, 169
Ship, as an example, 63
Sibyls, books of the, 174
Sickness, resignation of man in time of, 74
Silence is the greatest persecution, 283
Simplicity of things compared to our double and complex nature, 25
Sin, all is, that is repugnant to the will of God, 247
—— original, 192
—— mystery of the transmission of, 107
—— foolishness of original, to man, 192
—— tradition of original, according to the Jews, 194
Sincerity, a necessary quality of every religion, 182
Sinners, enemies of God, 165
Sins, called enemies by David, 171
—— the two sources of, 241
Six days and the six ages of the world, 174
Sleep, life compared to, 105
Sneezing absorbs all the faculties of the soul, 31
Society, a beginning of, 56
Socrates, 218
Solitude, the pleasure of, incomprehensible, 34
Sonnet, a bad, comparison of, 302
Sorbonne, corrupted by the Jesuits, 282
Soul, immortality of the, 4, 111
—— is immaterial, 111
—— how little she knows herself, 112
Sovereign good, philosophers do not agree as to the, 112
—— ordinary men's idea of, 112
Space, numbers imitate, 84
Spaniards, 66
Sphere, infinite, 19
Spirit, of men easily disturbed, 27
Spongia solis, 83
State of man, his weakness and uncertainty; nothing so important to man as his condition, 5, 6
Stoics, 49
—— what they propose is difficult and idle, 113
Stream may decide justice or injustice, 66
Strife alone pleases, not the victory, 39
Study of man, why so few undertake it, 82
Style, thoughts on, 301
—— effect a natural, produces, we find a man instead of an author, 303
—— examples of bad, 304
Submission of the reason, only by this can we truly know ourselves, 108, 250
Suetonius, 221
Suicide, advised by certain philosophers, 112
Sun, course of the, 84
Suns, the five, of Mexico, 118
Superstition, piety compared with, 251
Sweden, queen of, 75
Sword, the right of the, 67
Symmetry, definition of, 304
Synagogues, a type of the Church, 176
Tacitus, 221
Talmud, its predictions of the Messiah, 152
—— date of composition of, 196
Temple, its reprobation prophesied by Jeremiah, 149
Tennis, 37
Tertullian, 127
Testaments, proof of the two, at once, 157
—— proof that the Old, is figurative, 158
—— Old and New, their relations, 165
—— sacrifices and ceremonies of Old, either figures or absurdities, 174
Thamar, story of, 220
Theatre, dangers of the, for the Christian soul, 248
Theology, taken as an example of diversity, 32
Theresa, Saint, her double greatness, 246
—— what she was when alive and now, 275
Thought, greatness of man consists in, 46
—— makes man's being, 47
—— the whole dignity of man lies in, 48
—— great in essence, vile in defects, 48
Thoughts, spring up by chance, 29
—— escape us in writing, 29
Tide of the sea, 84
Time, our imagination enlarges the present, 56
Towns through which we pass, 59
Trades, choice of, 78
Transmission of sin, without this mystery we could not know ourselves, 107
Trent, Council of, 291
Truth, there is no, in man, 19
—— we hate, and those who tell it us, 85
—— necessity of seeking, 95
—— we know, by the heart as well as by reason, 102
—— is not within our reach, nor to our taste, 107
—— we have an idea of, which scepticism cannot overcome, 109
—— has visible signs, 208
—— makes us free, 245
—— opposite truth to be remembered with a, 279
—— unable to know, unless we love truth, 280
—— the first rule and ultimate end of things, 281
Truths of religion, necessity of seeking, 3
Turk, the Grand, 53
Turks, their example alleged by the wicked, 211
—— miracles of the, 258
—— grand sultan of the, 80
Twelve tables, law of the, 121
Types in general, their lawfulness, 157
—— unintelligible to the Jews and bad Christians, 158
—— understood only in the fulness of time, 158
—— compared to a portrait, 159
—— the word of God false literally, true spiritually, 159
—— of Old Testament only figures, 162
—— the reason of, 162
—— of Christ, 165
—— different kinds of, some seem far-fetched, 165
—— reason for the use of, 170
—— of Old Testament either figures or absurdities, 174
—— made according to the truth, 176
—— particular, 176
—— the utility of, 216
Tyranny, in what it consists, 68
Unbelievers, we should pity them, 253
—— useful for the glory of religion, 203
—— revile that which they do not understand, 204
Uncertainty, what we do for an, 102
—— of condition of man, 23
Understanding, greatness of men of, invisible to the great, 227
Unhappiness natural to man's condition, makes him seek diversion, 33
—— proof of man's, 73
Union of mind and body a mystery to man, 28
—— of the Word to man, 299
Universe, how inferior and superior to man, 46
—— the whole, teaches man, either of his corruptness or redemption, 192
Usurpation of the whole earth, beginning and image of, 68
Vacuum, an example taken from our notion of, 54
—— absurdity of the saying that nature abhors a, 313
Vanity of pleasure, 5
Vatable, 269, 270
Venice, the Jesuits and, 283
Vespasian, persecution of, 127
—— miracles of, 271
Vices, why we are indulgent to the, of the great, 74
—— certain, have hold on us only by means of others, 77
Victory pleases less than strife, why, 39
Virgin birth, weakness of the argument against the, 223
Virtue may be excessive, 30
—— is the result of two opposite vices in counterpoise, 30
Vocations, 59
War, why men seek, 34
—— internecine, in man, between the reason and his passions, 55
—— civil, is the worst of evils, 63, 70
—— decided by an interested party, 66
Weakness of man, 28, 66
—— —— cause of so many esteemed beauties, 72
—— unrest, and defects of man, 73
Weariness of Jesus, 232
—— inevitable in all conditions, 35
—— is man's most sensible evil and his greatest good, 39
—— arises from loss of occupation, 40
Well dressed, not altogether foolish to be, 70
Wicked, the, reasoning of, in the Book of Wisdom, 240
—— prove the corruption of human nature by their conduct, 191
—— who profess to follow reason, 211
Will, difference between the actions of the, and other actions, 129
—— is depraved in wishing for the love of others, 239
—— self, we must renounce it in order to be happy, 240
—— of God, we should judge of what is good or bad according to the, 244
—— one of the principal organs of belief, 307
Wine, too much and too little, 29
Wisdom, greatness of, invisible to the carnal, 227
—— God alone gives, 243
Words, meaning changes according to the, 129
World, vanity of the, 48
—— judges things rightly, 83
—— avoids thinking of what it does not choose to think about, 102
—— indicates the presence of a God who hides himself, 209
—— would not exist without Jesus Christ, 226
—— difference in living according to the, and to God, 248
—— is full of good maxims, we only need their right application, 314
Worshippers, unknown, 280
Worthlessness of man, 13
Xerxes, 144
Zeal of the Jewish people, 122