One is always wrong to open a conversation with the devil, for, however he goes about it, he always insists upon having the last word.

Know thyself. A maxim as pernicious as it is ugly. Whoever studies himself arrest his own development. A caterpillar who seeks to know himself would never become a butterfly.

The very act of sacrifice magnifies the one who sacrifices himself to the point where his sacrifice is much more costly to humanity than would have been the loss of those for whom he is sacrificing himself. But in his abnegation lies the secret of his grandeur.

The truth is that as soon as we are no longer obliged to earn our living, we no longer know what to do with our life and recklessly squander it.

I advise the young to tell themselves constantly that most often it is up to them alone.

The scholar seeks truth, the artist finds.

It is with fine sentiments that bad literature is made. Descend to the bottom of the well if you wish to see the stars.