The man who goes up in a balloon does not feel as if he were ascending; he only sees the earth sinking deeper below him.

(Politeness is) a tacit agreement that people's miserable defects, whether moral or intellectual, shall on either side be ignored and not be made the subject of reproach.

To gain anything we have longed for is only to discover how vain and empty it is; and even though we are always living in expectation of better things, at the same time we often repent and long to have the past back again.

Whatever torch we kindle, and whatever space it may illuminate, our horizon will always remain encircled by the depth of night.

Shame on such a morality that is worthy of pariahs, and that fails to recognize the eternal essence that exists in every living thing, and shines forth with inscrutable significance from all eyes that see the sun!

The greatest intellectual capacities are only found in connection with a vehement and passionate will.

A pessimist is an optimist in full possession of the facts.