When I was twelve years old I thought up an odd trinity: namely, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Devil. My inference wasthat God, in contemplating himself, created the second person of the godhead; but that, in order to be able to contemplate himself, he had to contemplate, and thus to create, his opposite.--With this I began to do philosophy.

We feign pity when we want to demonstrate our ascendancy over feelings of hostility: but usually in vain. Whenever we notice this,there is an accompanying surge in those hostile sensations.

The great man fights the elements in his time that hinder his own greatness, in other words his own freedom and sincerity.

What else is love but understanding and rejoicing in the fact that another person lives acts and experiences otherwise than we do?

A person unlearns arrogance when he knows he is always among worthy human beings; being alone fosters presumption. Young people are arrogant because they always associate with their own peers, those who are all really nothing but who would like to be very important.

If a man have a strong faith he can indulge in the luxury of skepticism.

Wherever Germany extends her sway, she ruins culture.