The thing I am most aware of is my limits. And this is natural; for I never, or almost never, occupy the middle of my cage; my whole being surges toward the bars.

The loveliest creations of men are persistently painful. What would be the description of happiness? Nothing, except what prepares and then what destroys it.

God lies ahead. I convince myself and constantly repeat to myself that: He depends on us. It is through us that God is achieved.

No encounter occured that day, and I was glad of it; I took out of my pocket a little Homer I had not opened since leaving Marseilles, reread three lines of the Odyssey, learned them by heart; then, finding sufficient sustenance in their rhythm and reveling in them at leisure, I closed the book and remained, trembling, more alive than I had thought possible, my mind numb with happiness.

To what a degree the same past can leave different marks - and especially admit of different interpretations.

The wise man is he who constantly wonders afresh.

Man's responsibility increases as that of the gods decreases.