One must be truthful with oneself about one's own motives, especially if one is to survive in the world. It takes rigor, and it takes courage.

When we speak, in gestures or signs, we fashion a real object in the world; the gesture is seen, the words and the song are heard. The arts are simply a kind of writing, which, in one way or another, fixes words or gestures, and gives body to the invisible.

Wouldn't a sailor laugh at you if you told him that the whole crossing depends on the first turn of the helm?

There is a future that makes itself and a future we make. The real future is composed of both.

We must recognize the eloquence of our passions and refuse to be taken in. Instead of saying, 'That false friend always did despise me,' say: 'In my present state of agitation, I can't see clearly, I can't judge clearly; I am only a tragic actor who is declaiming for his own ears.' Then you will see the lights in the theater go out for lack of an audience, and the brilliant sets will be nothing more than painted cardboard.

There are only two kinds of scholars; those who love ideas and those who hate them.

Nothing is more dangerous than an idea when it is the only one you have.