He who knows himself to be profound endeavors to be clear; he who would like to appear profound to the crowd endeavors to be obscure.

What is new, however, is always evil, being that which wants to conquer and overthrow the old boundary markers and the old pieties; and only what is old is good. The good men are in all ages those who dig the old thoughts, digging deep and getting them to bear fruit - the farmers of the spirit. But eventually all land is depleted, and the ploughshare of evil must come again and again.

Here the ways of men divide. If you wish to strive for peace of soul and happiness, then believe; if you wish to be a disciple of truth, then inquire.

Art is essentially the affirmation, the blessing, and the deification of existence.

Every virtue inclines to stupidity, every stupidity to virtue; "stupid to the point of sanctity," they say in Russia, - let us be careful lest out of pure honesty we eventually become saints and bores!

Those who create are hard of heart.

Whoever turns away from us might not offend us in doing so perhaps, but he certainly offends our followers.