Life never presents us with anything which may not be looked upon as a fresh starting point, no less than as a termination.
Nothing is good for everyone, but only relatively to some people.
God depends on us. It is through us that God is achieved.
There is no prejudice that the work of art does not finally overcome.
Work and struggle and never accept an evil that you can change.
Know thyself. A maxim as pernicious as it is ugly. Whoever studies himself arrest his own development. A caterpillar who seeks to know himself would never become a butterfly.
To read a writer is for me not merely to get an idea of what he says, but to go off with him and travel in his company.
The truth is, I hoped the cure would dislike me. I tried to think of disagreeable things to say to him – I could hit on nothing that wasn’t charming. It’s wonderful how hard I find it not to be fascinating.
Old hands soil, it seems, whatever they caress, but they too have their beauty when they are joined in prayer. Young hands were made for caresses and the sheathing of love. It is a pity to make them join too soon.
Welcome anything that comes to you, but do not long for anything else.
To what a degree the same past can leave different marks – and especially admit of different interpretations.
The most gifted natures are perhaps also the most trembling.
The most decisive actions of life are most often unconsidered actions.
No theory is good unless it permits, not rest, but the greatest work. No theory is good except on condition that one use it to go on beyond.
It is unthinkable for a Frenchman to arrive at middle age without having syphilis and the Cross of the Legion of Honor.
In hell there is no other punishment than to begin over and over again the tasks left unfinished in your lifetime.
Great authors are admirable in this respect: in every generation they make for disagreement. Through them we become aware of our differences.
The most important things to say are those which often I did not think necessary for me to say – because they were too obvious.
Fish die belly upward, and rise to the surface. Its their way of falling.
The world will be saved by one or two people.