He who climbeth on the highest mountains, laugheth at all tragic plays and tragic realities.

One ought to hold on to one's heart; for if one lets it go, one soon loses control of the head too.

Alas! There cometh the time when man will no longer give birth to any star. Alas! There cometh the time of the most despicable man, who can no longer despise himself.

We are most unfair to God; we do not allow Him to sin.

For out of fear and need each religion is born, creeping into existence on the byways or reason.

The most unequivocal sign of contempt for man is to regard everybody merely as a means to one's own ends, or of no account whatever.

When one is young, one venerates and despises without that art of nuances which constitutes the best gain of life, and it is only fair that one has to pay dearly for having assaulted men and things in this manner with Yes and No. Everything is arranged so that the worst of tastes, the taste for the unconditional, should be cruelly fooled and abused until a man learns to put a little art into his feelings and rather to risk trying even what is artificial — as the real artists of life do.