A man only understands what is akin to something already existing in himself.

You desire to know the art of living, my friend? It is contained in one phrase: make use of suffering.

He who asks of life nothing but the improvement of his own nature... is less liable than anyone else to miss and waste life.

Conquering any difficulty always gives one a secret joy, for it means pushing back a boundary-line and adding to one's liberty.

Life is but a daily oscillation between revolt and submission.

Love is faith and one faith leads to another.

I am a spectator, so to speak, of the molecular whirlwind which men call individual life; I am conscious of an incessant metamorphosis, an irresistible movement of existence, which is going on within me - and this phenomenology of myself serves as a window opened upon the mystery of the world.