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.

Once and for all, there are many things I choose not to know.--Wisdom sets limits even to knowledge.

Not with wrath do we kill, but with laughter. Come, let us kill the spirit of gravity!

The value of many men and books rests solely on their faculty for compelling all to seek out the most hidden and intimate things.

Ten times must you laugh during the day, and be cheerful; otherwise your stomach, the father of affliction, will disturb you in the night.

Compassion for the friend should conceal itself under a hard shell.

One who has given up any hope of winning a fight or has clearly lost it wants his style in fighting to be admired all the more.