Every woman while she would be ready to die of shame if surprised in the act of generation, nonetheless carries her pregnancy without a trace of shame and indeed with a kind of pride. The reason is that pregnancy is in a certain sense a cancellation of the guilt incurred by coitus; thus coitus bears all the shame and disgrace of the affair, while pregnancy, which is so intimately associated with it, stays pure and innocent and is indeed to some extent sacred.

Truth that is naked is the most beautiful, and the simpler its expression the deeper is the impression it makes.

Thus also every keen pleasure is an error and an illusion, for no attained wish can give lasting satisfaction.

All our wanting comes from needs, thus we continiously suffer. The intellect teaches free will, free from suffering.

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.

To desire immortality is to desire the eternal perpetuation of a great mistake

Every possession and every happiness is but lent by chance for an uncertain time, and may therefore be demanded back the next hour.