One must first be firmly set in oneself, one must stand securely on one's own two legs otherwise one cannot love at all.

Man is at his furthest remove from the animal as a child, his intellect most human. With his fifteenth year and puberty he comes astep closer to the animal; with the sense of possessions of his thirties (the median line between laziness and greediness), still another step. In his sixtieth year of life he frequently loses his modesty as well, then the septuagenarian steps up to us as a completely unmasked beast: one need only look at the eyes and the teeth.

Woman understands children better than man does, but man is more childlike than woman.

In the dark, time feels different than when it is light.

Strong hope is a much greater stimulant of life than any single realised joy could be.

One thing a man must have: either a naturally light disposition or a disposition lightened by art and knowledge.

The architect represents neither a Dionysian nor an Apollinian condition: here it is the mighty act of will, the will which moves mountains, the intoxication of the strong will, which demands artistic expression. The most powerful men have always inspired the architects; the architect has always been influenced by power.