Poverty in itself does not make men into a rabble; a rabble is created only when there is joined to poverty a disposition of mind, an inner indignation against the rich, against society, against the government.

The nature of finite things is to have the seed of their passing-away as their essential being: the hour of their birth is the hour of their death.

Amid the pressure of great events, a general principle gives no help.

To be independent of public opinion is the first formal condition of achieving anything great.

Destiny is consciousness of oneself, but consciousness of oneself as an enemy.

The sublime in art is the attempt to express the infinite without finding in the realm of phenomena any object which proves itself fitting for this representation.

To him who looks upon the world rationally, the world in its turn presents a rational aspect. The relation is mutual.