As a remedy against all ills - poverty, sickness, and melancholy - only one thing is absolutely necessary: a liking for work

Even when she walks one would believe that she dances.

By nature, by necessity itself, [primitive man] is encyclopedic, while civilized man finds himself confined in the infinitely small regions of specialization.

There is no such thing as a long piece of work, except one that you dare not start.

Nature is a temple in which living columns sometimes emit confused words. Man approaches it through forests of symbols, which observe him with familiar glances.

I have to confess that I had gambled on my soul and lost it with heroic insouciance and lightness of touch. The soul is so impalpable, so often useless, and sometimes such a nuisance, that I felt no more emotion on losing it than if, on a stroll, I had mislaid my visiting card.

It would perhaps be nice to be alternately the victim and the executioner.