We do not have to visit a madhouse to find disordered minds; our planet is the mental institution of the universe.

Wood burns because it has the proper stuff for that purpose in it; and a man becomes renowned because he has the necessary stuff in him. Renown is not to be sought, and all pursuit of it is vain. A person may, indeed, by skillful conduct and various artificial means, make a sort of name for himself; but if the inner jewel is wanting, all is vanity, and will not last a day.

Light has called forth one organ to become its like, and thus the eye is formed by the light and for the light so that the inner light may emerge to meet the outer light.

Art rests on a kind of religious sense, on a deep, steadfast earnestness; and on this account it unites so readily with religion.

Idea and experience will never coincide in the center; only through art and action are they united.

I can promise to be sincere, but I cannot promise to be impartial.

How circumscribed is woman's destiny!