I did not know how to reach him, how to catch up with him... The land of tears is so mysterious.

Grown-ups love figures... When you tell them you've made a new friend they never ask you any questions about essential matters. They never say to you "What does his voice sound like? What games does he love best? Does he collect butterflies? " Instead they demand "How old is he? How much does he weigh? How much money does his father make? " Only from these figures do they think they have learned anything about him.

The wind in the grain is the caress to the spouse; it is the hand of peace stroking her hair.

He who bears in his heart a cathedral to be built is already victorious. He who seeks to become sexton of a finished cathedral is already defeated.

A pilot's business is with the wind, and with the stars, with night, with sand, with the sea. He strives to outwit the forces of nature. He stares with expectancy for the coming of the dawn the way a gardener awaits the coming of spring. He looks forward to port as a promised land, and truth for him is what lives in the stars.

A chief is a man who assumes responsibility. He says 'I was beaten,' he does not say 'My men were beaten.'

Let a man in a garret but burn with enough intensity and he will set fire to the world.