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.

Our moral virtues benefit mainly other people; intellectual virtues, on the other hand, benefit primarily ourselves; therefore the former make us universally popular, the latter unpopular.

Every child is in a way a genius; and every genius is in a way a child.

That which knows all things and is known by none is the subject.

Not to go to the theater is like making one's toilet without a mirror.

There is no absurdity so palpable but that it may be firmly planted in the human head if you only begin to inculcate it before the age of five, by constantly repeating it with an air of great solemnity.

Wealth is like sea-water; the more we drink, the thirstier we become; and the same is true of fame.