There are only two things that pierce the human heart. One is beauty. The other is affliction.

The world is the closed door. It is a barrier. And at the same time it is the way through.

If we go down into ourselves, we find that we possess exactly what we desire.

Human beings are so made that the ones who do the crushing feel nothing; it is the person crushed who feels what is happening. Unless one has placed oneself on the side of the oppressed, to feel with them, one cannot understand.

Necessity is God's veil.

I think that it is useless to fight directly against natural weaknesses. One has to force oneself to act as though one did not have them in circumstances where a duty makes it imperative; and in the ordinary course of life one has to know these weaknesses, prudently take them into account, and strive to turn them to good purpose; for they are all capable of being put to some good purpose.

An atheist may be simply one whose faith and love are concentrated on the impersonal aspects of God.