Boredom is just the reverse side of fascination.

If at any moment Time stays his hand, it is only when we are delivered over to the miseries of boredom.

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

He who can see truly in the midst of general infatuation is like a man whose watch keeps good time, when all clocks in the town in which he lives are wrong. He alone knows the right time; what use is that to him?

The best consolation in misfortune or affliction of any kind will be the thought of other people who are in a still worse plight than yourself; and this is a form of consolation open to every one. But what an awful fate this means for mankind as a whole! We are like lambs in a field, disporting themselves under the eye of the butcher, who chooses out first one and then another for his prey.

Women remain children all their lives, for they always see only what is near at hand, cling to the present, take the appearance of a thing for reality, and prefer trifling matters to the most important.

With people of limited ability modesty is merely honesty. But with those who possess great talent it is hypocrisy.