Deception, flattering, lying, deluding, talking behind the back, putting up a false front, living in borrowed splendor, wearing a mask, hiding behind convention, playing a role for others and for oneself -- in short, a continuous fluttering around the solitary flame of vanity -- is so much the rule and the law among men that there is almost nothing which is less comprehensible than how an honest and pure drive for truth could have arisen among them.

The great end of art is to strike the imagination with the power of a soul that refuses to admit defeat even in the midst of a collapsing world.

We labour at our daily work more ardently and thoughtlessly than is necessary to sustain our life because it is even more necessary not to have leisure to stop and think. Haste is universal because everyone is in flight from himself.

The world was conquered through the understanding of dogs; the world exists through the understanding of dogs.

Whoever despises himself nonetheless respects himself as one who despises.

Envy and jealousy are the private parts of the human soul. Perhaps the comparison can be extended.

The best way to give assistance to those who are deeply embarrassed and to calm them down is to praise them decisively.