Obstinacy is the result of the will forcing itself into the place of the intellect.

It would be better if there were nothing. Since there is more pain than pleasure on earth, every satisfaction is only transitory, creating new desires and new distresses, and the agony of the devoured animal is always far greater than the pleasure of the devourer

One can forget everything, everything, only not oneself, one's own being.

No one can transcend their own individuality.

Memory works like the collection glass in the Camera obscura: it gathers everything together and therewith produces a far more beautiful picture than was present originally.

No doubt, when modesty was made a virtue, it was a very advantageous thing for the fools, for everybody is expected to speak of himself as if he were one.

Reading is equivalent to thinking with someone else's head instead of with one's own.