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.

No one can construct for you the bridge upon which precisely you must cross the stream of life, no one but you yourself alone.

It is not when truth is dirty, but when it is shallow, that the lover of knowledge is reluctant to step into its waters.

Forgetting: that is a divine capacity. And whoever aspires to the heights and wants to fly must cast off much that is heavy and make himself light--I call it a divine capacity for lightness.

Not contentment, but more power; not peace at any price, but war; not virtue, but efficiency (virtue in the Renaissance sense, virtu , virtue free of moral acid).

The value of many men and books rests solely on their faculty for compelling all to seek out the most hidden and intimate things.

In the mountains, the shortest way is from peak to peak: but for that you must have long legs