There is perhaps nothing so admirable in Christianity and Buddhism as their art of teaching even the lowest to elevate themselves by piety to a seemingly higher order of things, and thereby to retain their satisfaction with the actual world in which they find it difficult enough to live - this very difficulty being necessary.

I would only believe in a god who could dance. And when I saw my devil I found him serious, thorough, profound, and solemn: it was the spirit of gravity—through him all things fall. Not by wrath does one kill but by laughter. Come, let us kill the spirit of gravity!

All idealism is falsehood in the face of necessity.

So long as men praise you, you can only be sure that you are not yet on your own true path but on someone else's.

If a man wishes to become a hero, then the serpent must first become a dragon: otherwise he lacks his proper enemy.

The best weapon against an enemy is another enemy.

The people we have employed in an undertaking that has turned out badly should be doubly rewarded.