When somebody dies we usually need reasons for consolation, not so much to alleviate our pain as to excuse ourselves for so readily feeling consoled.

Hope in reality is the worst of all evils because it prolongs the torments of man.

At present I am light, now I fly, now I see myself below me, now a god dances through me.

A soul which knows that it is loved, but does not itself love, betrays its sediment: its dregs come up.

The believer in magic and miracles reflects on how to impose a law on nature--: and, in brief, the religious cult is the outcome of this reflection.

Today as always, men fall into two groups: slaves and free men. Whoever does not have two-thirds of his day for himself, is a slave, whatever he may be: a statesman, a businessman, an official, or a scholar.

What is Genius?- To aspire to a lofty aim and to will the means to that aim.