He who can see truly in the midst of general infatuation is like a man whose watch keeps good time, when all clocks in the town in which he lives are wrong. He alone knows the right time; what use is that to him?

Console yourself by remembering that the world doesn't deserve your affection.

...nothing at all rides on the life or death of the individual.

Mensch kann tun was er will; er kann aber nicht wollen was er will. (One can choose what to do, but not what to want.)

You must treat a work of art like a great man: stand before it and wait patiently till it deigns to speak.

Reason is feminine in nature; it can only give after it has received.

In action a great heart is the chief qualification. In work, a great head.