I love looking at famous people. Because of the way they look. Because of the way photography makes them look famous.

The eternal being..., as it lives in us, also lives in every animal.

We must set limits to our wishes, curb our desires, moderate our anger, always remembering that an individual can attain only an infinitesimal share in anything that is worth having; and that on the other hand, everyone must incur many of the ills of life

Noise is the most impertinent of all forms of interruption. It is not only an interruption, but also a disruption of thought.

No one writes anything worth writing, unless he writes entirely for the sake of his subject.

The real meaning of persona is a mask, such as actors were accustomed to wear on the ancient stage; and it is quite true that no one shows himself as he is, but wears his mask and plays his part. Indeed, the whole of our social arrangements may be likened to a perpetual comedy; and this is why a man who is worth anything finds society so insipid, while a blockhead is quite at home in it.

[T]he moralists of Europe [have] pretended that beasts have no rights... a doctrine revolting/gross/barbarous... on which a native of the Asiatic uplands could not look without righteous horror.