Artists have a double relationship towards nature: they are her master and her slave at the same time. They are her slave in so far as they must work with means of this world so as to be understood; her master in so far as they subject these means to their higher goals and make them subservient to them.

One ought, everyday, to hear a song, read a fine poem, and, if possible, to speak a few reasonable words.

Do the duty which lies nearest to thee.

Let everyone sweep in front of his own door, and the whole world will be clean.

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

The misfortune in the state is, that nobody can enjoy life in peace, but that everybody must govern; and in art, that nobody will enjoy what has been produced, but that every one wants to reproduce on his own account.

If there is confusion in your head and in your heart, what more do you want! A man who no longer loves and no longer errs should have himself buried straight away.