An important species of pleasure, and therewith the source of morality, arises out of habit.

History belongs above all to the man...who needs models, teachers, comforters and cannot find them among his contemporaries.

In praise there is more obtrusiveness than in blame.

One must repay good and ill; but why just to the person who did us good or ill?

It is only because man believes himself to be free, not because he is free, that he experiences remorse and pricks of conscience.

Immortal is the moment when I engendered the recurrence. For the sake of this moment I bear the recurrence.

The desire to create continually is vulgar and betrays jealousy, envy, ambition. If one is something one really does not need to make anything --and one nonetheless does very much. There exists above the ''productive'' man a yet higher species.