Talking nonsense is man's only privilege that distinguishes him from all other organisms.

One must be a great man indeed to be able to hold out even against common sense." "Or else a fool.

I used to imagine adventures for myself, I invented a life, so that I could at least exist somehow.

But try getting blindly carried away by your feelings, without reasoning, without a primary cause, driving consciousness away at least for a time; start hating, or fall in love, only so as not to sit with folded arms.

They have this social justification for every nasty thing they do!

A cultivated and decent man cannot be vain without setting a fearfully high standard for himself, and without despising and almost hating himself at certain moments.

Remember, too, every day, and whenever you can, repeat to yourself, Lord, have mercy on all who appear before Thee today. For every hour and every moment thousands of men leave life on this earth, and their souls appear before God. And how many of them depart in solitude, unknown, sad, dejected that no one mourns for them or even knows whether they have lived or not!