I do not at all believe in human freedom in the philosophical sense... Schopenhauer’s saying, ‘A man can do what he wants, but not will what he wants,’ has been a very real inspiration to me since my youth; it has been a continual consolation in the face of life’s hardships, my own and others’, and an unfailing wellspring of tolerance. This realization mercifully mitigates the easily paralyzing sense of responsibility and prevents us from taking ourselves and other people too seriously; it is conducive to a view of life which, in part, gives humour its due.

Is there not a certain satisfaction in the fact that natural limits are set to the life of the individual, so that at the conclusion it may appear as a work of art?

I cannot imagine a God who rewards and punishes the objects of his creation and is but a reflection of human frailty.

The height of stupidity is most clearly demonstrated by the individual who ridicules something he knows nothing about.

It is difficult to say what truth is, but sometimes it is so easy to recognize a falsehood.

Smoke like a chimney, work like a horse, eat without thinking, go for a walk only in really pleasant company.

Racism is America's greatest disease, racism is a disease of the white man.