There is sense in hoping for recognition in a distant future only when we take it for granted that mankind will remain essentially unchanged, and that whatever is great is not for one age only but will be looked upon as great for all time.

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

Iron necessity is a thing which in the course of history men come to see as neither iron nor necessary.

In art the end does not sanctify the means: but sacred means employed here can sanctify the end.

There did he sit shrivelled in his chimney corner, fretting on account of his weak legs, world weary, will weary, and one day he suffocated through his excessive pity.

In Christianity neither morality nor religion come into contact with reality at any point.

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