There is not one talent for living and another for creating. The same suffices for both. And one can be sure that the talent that could not produce but an artificial work could not sustain but a frivolous life.

There is no fate that cannot be surmounted by scorn.

Wandering seemed no more than the happiness of an anxious man.

I know myself too well to believe in pure virtue.

Beginning to think is beginning to be undermined.

One recognizes one's course by discovering the paths that stray from it.

We can't do without dominating others or being served.... The essential thing, in sum, is being able to get angry without the other person being able to answer back.