One can be certain that every generally held idea, every received notion, will be idiocy because it has been able to appeal to the majority

There is a melancholy that stems from greatness

Most benefactors are like unskillful generals who take the city and leave the citadel intact.

Conviction is the conscience of intellect.

I have three kinds of friends: those who love me, those who pay no attention to me, and those who detest me.

We take our colors, chameleon-like, from each other.

It is among uneducated women that we may look for the most confirmed gossips. Goethe tells us there is nothing more frightful than bustling ignorance.