Nature is not a temple, but a workshop, and man's the workman in it.

Youth eats all the sugared fancy cakes and regards them as its daily bread. But there'll come a time when you'll start asking just for a crust.

What's terrible is that there's nothing terrible, that the very essence of life is petty, uninteresting, and degradingly trite.

I never started from ideas but always from character.

You may live a long while with some people and be on friendly terms with them and never speak openly with them from your soul.

The past was a dream wasn't it? And who ever remembers dreams?

People without firmness of character love to make up a fate for themselves; that relieves them of the necessity of having their own will and of taking responsibility for themselves.