Nothing shocks our moral feelings so deeply as cruelty does. We can forgive every other crime, but not cruelty. The reason for this is that it is the very opposite of compassion.

Our first ideas of life are generally taken from fiction rather than fact.

The bad thing about all religions is that, instead of being able to confess their allegorical nature, they have to conceal it.

One man is more concerned with the impression he makes on the rest of mankind, another with the impression the rest of mankind makes on him.

There is no doubt that life is given us, not to be enjoyed, but to be overcome; to be got over.

Honor means that a man is not exceptional; fame, that he is.

I believe a person of any fine feeling scarcely ever sees a new face without a sensation akin to a shock, for the reason that it presents a new and surprising combination of unedifying elements.