Without poetry, religion becomes obscure, false, and malignant; without philosophy, licentious in all wantonness, and lascivious to the point of self-castration.

Nothing is more witty and grotesque than ancient mythology and Christianity; that is because they are so mystical.

What is called good society is usually nothing but a mosaic of polished caricatures.

All men are somewhat ridiculous and grotesque, just because they are men; and in this respect artists might well be regarded as man multiplied by two. So it is, was, and shall be.

Religion is usually nothing but a supplement to or even a substitute for education, and nothing is religious in the strict sense which is not a product of freedom. Thus one can say: The freer, the more religious; and the more education, the less religion.

Wit is an explosion of the compound spirit.

The subject of history is the gradual realization of all that is practically necessary.