Quote collection
571 quotes — follow a thought to its full quote page.
"No greater mistake can be made than to imagine that what has been written latest is always the more correct; that what is written later on is an improvement on what was written previously; and that every change means progress."
"A sense of humour is the only divine quality of man"
"Religion is the masterpiece of the art of animal training, for it trains people as to how they shall think."
"Mostly it is loss which teaches us about the worth of things."
"Opinion is like a pendulum and obeys the same law. If it goes past the centre of gravity on one side, it must go a like distance on the other; and it is only after a certain time that it finds the true point at which it can remain at rest."
"Great men are like eagles, and build their nest on some lofty solitude."
"Journalists are like dogs, when ever anything moves they begin to bark."
"If the lives of men were relieved of all need, hardship and adversity; if everything they took in hand were successful, they would be so swollen with arrogance that, though they might not burst, they would present the spectacle of unbridled folly-nay, they would go mad. And I may say, further, that a certain amount of care or pain or trouble is necessary for every man at all times. A ship without ballast is unstable and will not go straight."
"The more unintelligent a man is, the less mysterious existence seems to him."
"A man of genius can hardly be sociable, for what dialogues could indeed be so intelligent and entertaining as his own monologues?"
"Life swings like a pendulum backward and forward between pain and boredom."
"The art of not reading is a very important one. It consists in not taking an interest in whatever may be engaging the attention of the general public at any particular time. When some political or ecclesiastical pamphlet, or novel, or poem is making a great commotion, you should remember that he who writes for fools always finds a large public. A precondition for reading good books is not reading bad ones: for life is short."
"A man can be himself only so long as he is alone."
"How very paltry and limited the normal human intellect is, and how little lucidity there is in the human consciousness, may be judged from the fact that, despite the ephemeral brevity of human life, the uncertainty of our existence and the countless enigmas which press upon us from all sides, everyone does not continually and ceaselessly philosophize, but that only the rarest of exceptions do."
"A high degree of intellect tends to make a man unsocial."
"Life is full of troubles and vexations, that one must either rise above it by means of corrected thoughts, or leave it."
"Vulgar people take huge delight in the faults and follies of great men."
"What people commonly call Fate is, as a general rule, nothing but their own stupid and foolish conduct."
"A man can surely do what he wills to do, but cannot determine what he wills."
"Whatever torch we kindle, and whatever space it may illuminate, our horizon will always remain encircled by the depth of night."