the brut first knows death when it dies, but man draws consciously nearer to it every hour that he lives; and this makes his life at times a questionable good even to him who has not recognised this character of constant anaihilation in the whole of life.

Men best show their character in trifles, where they are not on their guard. It is in the simplest habits, that we often see the boundless egotism which pays no regard to the feelings of others and denies nothing to itself.

Marrying means doing whatever possible to become repulsed of each other

To desire immortality for the individual is really the same as wanting to perpetuate an error forever.

Reasonable and vicious are quite consistent with each other, in fact, only through their union are great and far-reaching crimes possible

The highest, most varied and lasting pleasures are those of the mind.

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.