So far no one had had enough courage and intelligence to reveal me to my dear Germans. My problems are new, my psychological horizon frighteningly comprehensive, my language bold and clear; there may well be no books written in German which are richer in ideas and more independent than mine.

The golden fleece of self-sufficiency guards against cudgel- blows but not against pin-pricks.

The usual false conclusions of mankind are these: a thing exists, therefore it has a right to exist.

Man is something to be surpassed.

Ultimately, no one can extract from things, books included, more than he already knows.

Horrible experiences lead us to wonder whether the person who experiences them might not be something horrible.

The philosopher caught in the nets of language.