Just as a waterfall grows slower and more lightly suspended as it plunges down, so the great man of action tends to act with greater calmness than his tempestuous desires prior to the deed would lead one to expect.

A matter that becomes clear ceases to concern us.

I am affected, not because you have deceived me, but because I can no longer believe in you.

All idealism is falsehood in the face of necessity.

Most people are too stupid to act in their own interest

The greatest progress that the human race has made lies in learning how to make correct inferences.

In this state one enriches everything out of one's own fullness: whatever one sees, whatever wills is seen swelled, taut, strong, overloaded with strength. A man in this state transforms things until they mirror his power—until they are reflections of his perfection. This having to transform into perfection is—art.