In life it is more necessary to lose than to gain. A seed will only germinate if it dies.

And remember: you must never, under any circumstances, despair. To hope and to act, these are our duties in misfortune.

They don't ask much of you. They only want you to hate the things you love and to love the things you despise.

That's metaphysics, my dear fellow. It's forbidden me by my doctor, my stomach won't take it.

No deep and strong feeling, such as we may come across here and there in the world, is unmixed with compassion. The more we love, the more the object of our love seems to us to be a victim.

I used to be very revolutionary, but now I think that nothing can be gained by brute force. People must be drawn to good by goodness.

Art is unthinkable without risk and spiritual self-sacrifice.