Concerning great things one should either be silent or speak loftily.

Every virtue inclines to stupidity, every stupidity to virtue; "stupid to the point of sanctity," they say in Russia, - let us be careful lest out of pure honesty we eventually become saints and bores!

Every one being allowed to learn to read, ruineth in the long run not only writing but also thinking.

The higher you ascend, the smaller you appear to the eye of envy. But most of all they hate those who fly.

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.

For it is only as an aesthetic phenomenon that existence and the world are eternally justified.

When one is young, one venerates and despises without that art of nuances which constitutes the best gain of life.