What people commonly call Fate is, as a general rule, nothing but their own stupid and foolish conduct.

For the world is Hell, and men are on the one hand the tormented souls and on the other the devils in it.

Wicked thoughts and worthless efforts gradually set their mark on the face, especially the eyes.

History is the long, difficult and confused dream of Mankind.

I observed once to Goethe that when a friend is with us we do not think the same of him as when he is away. He replied, "Yes! because the absent friend is yourself, and he exists only in your head; whereas the friend who is present has an individuality of his own, and moves according to laws of his own, which cannot always be in accordance with those which you form for yourself.

Pride works from within; it is the direct appreciation of oneself.

To be shocked at how deeply rejection hurts is to ignore what acceptance involves. We must never allow our suffering to be compounded by suggestions that there is something odd in suffering so deeply. There would be something amiss if we didn't.