A happy life is impos­si­ble; the best that a man can attain is a heroic life.

All our wanting comes from needs, thus we continiously suffer. The intellect teaches free will, free from suffering.

There are, first of all, two kinds of authors: those who write for the subject's sake, and those who write for writing's sake. ... The truth is that when an author begins to write for the sake of covering paper, he is cheating the reader; because he writes under the pretext that he has something to say.

The wise have always said the same things, and fools, who are the majority have always done just the opposite.

In action a great heart is the chief qualification. In work, a great head.

What now on the other hand makes people sociable is their incapacity to endure solitude and thus themselves.

Religions are like fireflies. They require darkness in order to shine.