The vanity of existence is revealed in the whole form existence assumes: in the infiniteness of time and space contrasted with the finiteness of the individual in both; in the fleeting present as the sole form in which actuality exists; in the contingency and relativity of all things; in continual becoming without being; in continual desire without satisfaction; in the continual frustration of striving of which life consists. . . Time is that by virtue of which everything becomes nothingness in our hands and loses all real value.

To be alone is the fate of all great minds—a fate deplored at times, but still always chosen as the less grievous of two evils.

There is no more mistaken path to happiness than worldliness, revelry, high life.

Intellect is a magnitude of intensity, not a magnitude of extensity.

In truth the most striking figure for the relation of the two is that of the strong blind man carrying the sighted lame man on his shoulders.

To call the world God is not to explain it; it is only to enrich our language with a superfluous synonym.

It is only in the microscope that our life looks so big. It is an indivisible point, drawn out and magnified by the powerful lenses of Time and Space.