The existence of any evil anywhere at any time absolutely ruins a total optimism.

It would hardly be possible to exaggerate man's wretchedness if it were not so easy to overestimate his sensibility

A great man need not be virtuous, nor his opinions right, but he must have a firm mind, a distinctive luminous character.

A grateful environment is a substitute for happiness. It can quicken us from without as a fixed hope and affection, or as the consciousness of a right life, can quicken us from within.

If all art aspires to the condition of music, all the sciences aspire to the condition of mathematics.

Nonsense is so good only because common sense is so limited.

History is always written wrong, and so always needs to be rewritten.