The summit charms us, the steps to it do not; with the heights before our eyes, we like to linger in the plain. It is only a part of art that can be taught; but the artist needs the whole. He who is only half instructed speaks much and is always wrong; who knows it wholly is content with acting and speaks seldom or late.

The history of knowledge is a great fugue in which the voices of the nations one after the other emerge.

People who think honestly and deeply have a hostile attitude towards the public.

The aim of living is life itself.

In the end we are all separate: our stories, no matter how similar, come to a fork and diverge. We are drawn to each other because of our similarities, but it is our differences we must learn to respect.

Every need whose true satisfaction is denied leads by necessity to faith.

The real scholar learns how to evolve the unknown from the known, and draws near the master.