Man is almost always as wicked as his needs require.

He who has the courage to laugh is almost as much a master of the world as he who is ready to die.

Men are ready to suffer anything from others or from heaven itself, provided that, when it comes to words, they are untouched.

No human trait deserves less tolerance in everyday life, and gets less, than intolerance.

There are some centuries which - apart from everything else - in the art and other disciplines presume to remake everything because they know how to make nothing.

Nature, with her customary beneficence, has ordained that man shall not learn how to live until the reasons for living are stolen from him, that he shall find no enjoyment until he has become incapable of vivid pleasure.

If content with himself and mankind, a man is never harsh or curt.