Life is a task to be done. It is a fine thing to say defunctus est; it means that the man has done his task.

Vulgar people take huge delight in the faults and follies of great men.

If a man wants to read good books, he must make a point of avoiding bad ones; for life is short, and time and energy limited.

No one knows what capacities for doing and suffering he has in himself, until something comes to rouse them to activity: just as in a pond of still water, lying there like a mirror, there is no sign of the roar and thunder with which it can leap from the precipice, and yet remain what it is; or again, rise high in the air as a fountain. When water is as cold as ice, you can have no idea of the latent warmth contained in it.

It is difficult, if not impossible, to define the limit of our reasonable desires in respect of possessions.

Philosophy ... is a science, and as such has no articles of faith; accordingly, in it nothing can be assumed as existing except what is either positively given empirically, or demonstrated through indubitable conclusions.

What give all that is tragic, whatever its form, the characteristic of the sublime, is the first inkling of the knowledge that the world and life can give no satisfaction, and are not worth our investment in them. The tragic spirit consists in this. Accordingly it leads to resignation.