Just as bones, tissues, intestines, and blood vessels are enclosed in a skin that makes it possible to bear the sight of a human being, so the agitations and passions of the soul are wrapped up in vanity: it is the soul's skin.

There is no more dreary or more repulsive creature than the man who has evaded his genius.

Whatever a theologian regards as true must be false: there you have almost a criterion of truth.

The drive toward knowledge has a moral origin.

Do not paint a picture either of God or the devil on your walls: this will ruin both your walls and the atmosphere.

The surest sign that two people no longer speak the same language is that both say ironic things to one another but that neither senses the irony.

"What is good?" ye ask. To be brave is good. Let the little girls say: "To be good is what is pretty, and at the same time touching."