Always to see the general in the particular is the very foundation of genius.

The world is my representation

I have described religion as the metaphysics of the people.

Vengeance taken will often tear the heart and torment the conscience.

Reason is feminine in nature; it can only give after it has received.

Every original idea is first ridiculed, then vigorously attacked, and finally taken for granted.

Genius is its own reward; for the best that one is, one must necessarily be for oneself. . . . Further, genius consists in the working of the free intellect., and as a consequence the productions of genius serve no useful purpose. The work of genius may be music, philosophy, painting, or poetry; it is nothing for use or profit. To be useless and unprofitable is one of the characteristics of genius; it is their patent of nobility.