Who knows if this other half of life where we think we're awake is not another sleep a little different from the first.

By thought I embrace the universe.

Man is only a reed, the weakest in nature, but he is a thinking reed. There is no need for the whole universe to take up arms to crush him: a vapour, a drop of water is enough to kill him. but even if the universe were to crush him, man would still be nobler than his slayer, because he knows that he is dying and the advantage the universe has over him. The universe knows none of this.

He who does not know his way to the sea should take a river for his guide.

It is dangerous to explain too clearly to man how like he is to the animals without pointing out his greatness. It is also dangerous to make too much of his greatness without his vileness. It is still more dangerous to leave him in ignorance of both, but it is most valuable to represent both to him. Man must not be allowed to believe that he is equal either to animals or to angels, nor to be unaware of either, but he must know both.

People almost invariably arrive at their beliefs not on the basis of proof but on the basis of what they find attractive.

There is a God-shaped vacuum in every heart.