Nothing is more conducive to peace of mind than not having any opinion at all.

To write brashly about some things, it is almost necessary not to know much about them.

Just as we outgrow a pair of trousers, we outgrow acquaintances, libraries, principles, etc., at times before they're worn out and times - and this is the worst of all - before we have new ones.

It is in the gift for employing all the vicissitudes of life to one's own advantage and to that of one's craft that a large part of genius consists.

The fly that doesn't want to be swatted is most secure when it lights on the fly-swatter.

Everyone should study at least enough philosophy and belles-lettres to make his sexual experience more delectable.

He was then in his fifty-fourth year, when even in the case of poets reason and passion begin to discuss a peace treaty and usually conclude it not very long afterwards.