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.

Welcome anything that comes to you, but do not long for anything else.

Enduring fame is promised only to those writers who can offer to successive generations a substance constantly renewed; for every generation arrives upon the scene with its own particular hunger.

I owe much to my friends; but, all things considered, it strikes me that I owe even more to my enemies. The real person springs life under a sting even better than under a caress.

But can one still make resolutions when one is over forty? I live according to twenty-year-old habits.

Man's first and greatest victory must be won against the gods.

When you have nothing to say, or to hide, there is no need to be prudent.