The best way to keep a prisoner from escaping is to make sure he never knows he's in prison.

The whole work of man really seems to consist in nothing but proving to himself every minute that he is a man and not a piano key.

.. But do you understand, I cry to him, do you understand that along with happiness, in the exact same way, in perfectly equal proportion, man also needs unhappiness

... what you need more than anything in life is a definite position.

Do you think it is a vain hope that one day man will find joy in noble deeds of light and mercy, rather than in the coarse pleasures he indulges in today -- gluttony, fornication, ostentation, boasting, and envious vying with his neighbor? I am certain this is not a vain hope and that the day will come soon.

What if man is not really a scoundrel, man in general, I mean, the whole race of mankind-then all the rest is prejudice, simply artificial terrors and there are no barriers and it's all as it should be.

"I love mankind," he said, "but I find to my amazement that the more I love mankind as a whole, the less I love man in particular."