Mediocrity is the most effective mask a superior spirit can wear, because to the great majority, which is to say, to the mediocre,it will not suggest a disguise:--and yet it is precisely for their sake that he puts it on--so as not to arouse them, and, indeed, not infrequently to avoid this out of pity and benevolence.

The higher we soar the smaller we appear to those who cannot fly.

Great things demand that we either remain silent about them or speak in a great manner: in a great manner, that is-cynically and with innocence.

We ought to learn from the kine one thing: ruminating.

There are expressions and bulls-eyes of the spirit, there are epigrams, a little handful of words, in which a whole culture, a whole society is suddenly crystallized.

To become the founder of a new religion one must be psychologically infallible in one's knowledge of a certain average type of souls who have not yet recognized that they belong together.

Follow in the footsteps of your fathers' virtue! How could you hope to climb high unless your fathers' will climbs with you?