Honor means that a man is not exceptional; fame, that he is. Fame is something which must be won; honor, only something which must not be lost.

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

The general history of art and literature shows that the highest achievements of the human mind are, as a rule, not favourably received at first.

Every satisfaction he attains lays the seeds of some new desire, so that there is no end to the wishes of each individual will.

When you look back on your life, it looks as though it were a plot, but when you are into it, it's a mess: just one surprise after another. Then, later, you see it was perfect.

All the cruelty and torment of which the world is full is in fact merely the necessary result of the totality of the forms under which the will to live is objectified.

Want and boredom are indeed the twin poles of human life.