Every time I tried to express my most heartfelt desires to be morally good I met with contempt and ridicule; and as soon as I would give in to vile passions I was praised and encouraged. Ambition, love of power, self-interest, lechery, pride, anger, vengeance-all of it was highly esteemed.

Commit no act that is contrary to love.

The more is given the less the people will work for themselves, and the less they work the more their poverty will increase.

Real wisdom is not the knowledge of everything, but the knowledge of which things in life are necessary, which are less necessary, and which are completely unnecessary to know.

People of limited intelligence are fond of talking about "these days," imagining that they have discovered and appraised the peculiarities of "these days" and that human nature changes with the times.

I now understand that my welfare is only possible if I acknowledge my unity with all the people of the world without exception.

"A real work of art destroys, in the consciousness of the receiver, the separation between himself and the artist."