When one does not have what one wants, one must want what one has.

Sadism is all right in its place, but it should be directed to proper ends.

To endure life remains, when all is said, the first duty of all living being Illusion can have no value if it makes this more difficult for us.

It often seems that the poet's derisive comment is not unjustified when he says of the philosopher: “With his nightcaps and the tatters of his dressing-gown he patches the gaps in the structure of the universe.

The defense against childish helplessness is what lends its characteristic features to the adult's reaction to the helplessness which he has to acknowledge - a reaction which is precisely the formation of religion.

Illusions commend themselves to us because they save us pain and allow us to enjoy pleasure instead. We must therefore accept it without complaint when they sometimes collide with a bit of reality against which they are dashed to pieces.

Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.