The various languages placed side by side show that with words it is never a question of truth, never a question of adequate expression; otherwise, there would not be so many languages. The 'thing in itself' (which is precisely what the pure truth, apart from any of its consequences, would be) is likewise something quite incomprehensible to the creator of language and something not in the least worth striving for.

The vanity of others runs counter to our taste only when it runs counter to our vanity.

[Heraclitus had] a regal air of certainty.

I understand by 'freedom of spirit' something quite definite - the unconditional will to say No, where it is dangerous to say No.

In the consciousness of the truth he has perceived, man now sees everywhere only the awfulness or the absurdity of existence and loathing seizes him.

One day soon you will meet a man, and he will rise like a phoenix from the ashes, and it is my greatest hope that he will not give you syphilis.

Art is the proper task of life.