Nobody thanks a witty man for politeness when he puts himself on a par with a society in which it would not be polite to show one's wit.

The wheel and the brake have different duties, but also one in common: to hurt one another.

Happiness is a fata morgana. the only way to not end up unhappy is to not long for happiness.

It is always consoling to think of suicide: in that way one gets through many a bad night.

The misunderstanding of passion and reason, as if the latter were an independent entity and not rather a system of relations between various passions and desires; and as if every passion did not possess its quantum of reason.

One must still have chaos in oneself to be able to give birth to a dancing star.

The question of place and climate is most closely related to the question of nutrition. Nobody is free to live everywhere; and whoever has to solve great problems that challenge all his strength actually has a very restricted choice in this matter. The influence of climate on our metabolism, its retardation, its acceleration, goes so far that a mistaken choice of place and climate can not only estrange a man from his task but can actually keep it from him: he never gets to see it.