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

Politeness is to human nature what warmth is to wax.

Pleasure is never as pleasant as we expected it to be and pain is always more painful. The pain in the world always outweighs the pleasure. If you don't believe it, compare the respective feelings of two animals, one of which is eating the other.

If God made the world, I would not be that God, for the misery of the world would break my heart.

We forfeit three-quarters of ourselves in order to be like other people.

I believe that when death closes our eyes we shall awaken to a light, of which our sunlight is but the shadow.

Martyrdom is the only way a man can become famous without ability.