People almost always do great things without knowing how to do them, and are quite surprised to have done them.

A true philosopher is like an elephant; he never puts the second foot down until the first one is solidly in place.

I feel nothing, apart from a certain difficulty in continuing to exist.

A well-cultivated mind is, so to speak, made up of all the minds of preceding ages; it is only one single mind which has been educated during all this time.

I shall leave the world without regret, for it hardly contains a single good listener.

Modesty in women has two special advantages,--it enhances beauty and veils uncomeliness.

Since the princes take the Earth for their own, it's fair that the philosophers reserve the sky for themselves and rule there, but they should never permit the entry of others.