Legislators and revolutionaries who promise both equality and liberty are visionaries and charlatans.

The person of analytic or critical intellect finds something ridiculous in everything. The person of synthetic or constructive intellect, in almost nothing.

There is nothing outside of us that is not at the same time in us, and as the external world has its colors the eye, too, has colors.

All intelligent thoughts have already been thought; what is necessary is only to try to think them again.

Quite often, as life goes on, when we feel completely secure as we go on our way, we suddenly notice that we are trapped in error, that we have allowed ourselves to be taken in by individuals, by objects, have dreamt up an affinity with them which immediately vanishes before our waking eye; and yet we cannot tear ourselves away, held fast by some power that seems incomprehensible to us. Sometimes, however, we become fully aware and realize that error as well as truth can move and spur us on to action.

If I say to the moment: 'Stay now! You are so beautiful'!

Look at a man the way he is and he only becomes worse, but look at him as if he were what he could be, then he becomes what he should be.