Life is a language in which certain truths are conveyed to us; if we could learn them in some other way, we should not live.

Our life is a loan received from death with sleep as the daily interest on this loan.

At bottom, every state regards another as a gang of robbers who will fall upon it as soon as there is an opportunity.

Memory works like the collection glass in the Camera obscura: it gathers everything together and therewith produces a far more beautiful picture than was present originally.

As a general rule, the longer a man's fame is likely to last, the later it will be in coming; for all excellent products require time for their development.

The general history of art and literature shows that the highest achievements of the human mind are, as a rule, not favourably received at first.

We can come to look upon the deaths of our enemies with as much regret as we feel for those of our friends, namely, when we miss their existence as witnesses to our success.