This life of ours...human life is like a flower gloriously blooming in a meadow: along comes a goat, eats it up---no more flower.

If an intelligent, educated, and healthy man begins to complain of his lot and go down-hill, there is nothing for him to do but to go on down until he reaches the bottom--there is no hope for him. Where could my salvation come from? How can I save myself? I cannot drink, because it makes my head ache. I never could write bad poetry. I cannot pray for strength and see anything lofty in the languor of my soul. Laziness is laziness and weakness weakness. I can find no other names for them. I am lost, I am lost; there is no doubt of that.

Death is terrifying, but it would be even more terrifying to find out that you are going to live forever and never die.

In a century or two, or in a millennium, people will live in a new way, a happier way. We won"t be there to see it - but it"s why we live, why we work. It"s why we suffer. We"re creating it. That"s the purpose of our existence. The only happiness we can know is to work toward that goal.

Everything should be first-rate in a person, his face, clothes, soul and thoughts.

I don’t understand anything about the ballet; all I know is that during the intervals the ballerinas stink like horses.

I think that it would be less difficult to live eternally than to be deprived of sleep throughout life.