That the world is not the embodiment of an eternal rationality can be conclusively proved by the fact that the piece of the worldthat we know--I mean our human reason--is not so very rational. And if it is not eternally and completely wise and rational, then the rest of the world will not be either; here the conclusion a minori ad majus, a parte ad totum applies, and does so with decisive force.

Most thinkers write badly, because they communicate not only their thoughts, but also the thinking of them.

One who has a why can endure anyhow.

All signs of superhuman nature appear in man as illness or insanity.

We love life, not because we are used to living but because we are used to loving.

Speaking generally, punishment hardens and numbs, it produces concentration, it sharpens the consciousness of alienation, it strengthens the power of resistance.

As a result, nature is something entirely different from what comes to mind when we invoke its name.