... that when you're buying books, you're optimistically thinking you're buying the time to read them. (Paraphrase of Schopenhauer)

It is a clear gain to sacrifice pleasure in order to avoid pain.

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.

There are three stages in the revelation of truth. The first is to be ridiculed, the second is to be resisted and the third is to be considered self-evident.

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

The reason domestic pets are so lovable and so helpful to us is because they enjoy, quietly and placidly, the present moment.

When you look back on your life, it looks as though it were a plot, but when you are into it, it's a mess: just one surprise after another. Then, later, you see it was perfect.