A great artist... must be shaken by the naked truths that will not be comforted. This divine discontent, this disequilibrium, this state of inner tension is the source of artistic energy.

Conscience is the virtue of the observers not the agents of action

Letters are among the most significant memorial a person can leave behind them.

I am what I am, so take me as I am!.

Oh, happy he who still hopes he can emerge from Error's boundless sea! - Faust.

What I possess I would gladly retain. Change amuses the mind, yet scarcely profits.

Without my attempts in natural science, I should never have learned to know mankind such as it is. In nothing else can we so closely approach pure contemplation and thought, so closely observe the errors of the senses and of the understanding, the weak and strong points of character.