One tells as few lies as possible only by telling as few lies as possible, and not by having the least possible opportunity to do so.

It would be very unjust to say that you deserted me, but that I was deserted, and sometimes terribly so, is true.

It's impossible to defend oneself in the absence of goodwill

How can one take delight in the world unless one flees to it for refuge?

Writing is a sweet, wonderful reward.

My grandfather used to say: Life is astoundingly short. To me, looking back over it, life seems so foreshortened that I scarcely understand, for instance, how a young man can decide to ride over to the next village without being afraid that -not to mention accidents- even the span of a normal happy life may fall far short of the time needed for such a journey.

We were expelled from Paradise, but it was not destroyed. The expulsion from Paradise was in one sense a piece of good fortune, for if we had not been expelled, Paradise would have had to be destroyed.