Quote collection
684 quotes — follow a thought to its full quote page.
"Since man cannot live without miracles, he will provide himself with miracles of his own making. He will believe in witchcraft and sorcery, even though he may otherwise be a heretic, an atheist, and a rebel."
"Power is given only to those who dare to lower themselves and pick it up. Only one thing matters, one thing; to be able to dare!"
"Compassion is the chief law of human existence."
"It is precisely that requirement of shared worship that has been the principal source of suffering for individual man and the human race since the beginning of history. In their efforts to impose universal worship, men have unsheathed their swords and killed one another. They have invented gods and challenged each other: "Discard your gods and worship mine or I will destroy both your gods and you!""
"Sarcasm: the last refuge of modest and chaste-souled people when the privacy of their soul is coarsely and intrusively invaded."
"Man only likes to count his troubles, but he does not count his joys."
"The man who lies to himself and listens to his own lie comes to such a pass that he cannot distinguish the truth within him."
"A new philosophy, a new way of life, is not given for nothing. It has to be paid dearly for and only acquired with much patience and great effort"
"Believe to the end, even if all men went astray and you were left the only one faithful; bring your offering even then and praise God in your loneliness."
"Every man looks out for himself, and he has the happiest life who manages to hoodwink himself best of all."
"At some thoughts one stands perplexed, especially at the sight of men's sin, and wonders whether one should use force or humble love. Always decide to use humble love. If you resolve on that once for all, you may subdue the whole world."
"If I seem happy to you . . . You could never say anything that would please me more. For men are made for happiness, and anyone who is completely happy has a right to say to himself, 'I am doing God's will on earth.' All the righteous, all the saints, all the holy martyrs were happy."
"They won't let me ... I can't be ... good!"
"Only to live, to live and live! Life, whatever it may be!"
"You see, gentlemen, reason is an excellent thing, there’s no disputing that, but reason is nothing but reason and satisfies only the rational side of man’s nature, while will is a manifestation of the whole life, that is, of the whole human life including reason and all the impulses. And although our life, in this manifestation of it, is often worthless, yet it is life and not simply extracting square roots."
"Anyone who can appease a man's conscience can take his freedom away from him."
"Drive nature out of the door and it will fly in at the window"
"Man has such a predilection for systems and abstract deductions that he is ready to distort the truth intentionally he is ready to deny the evidence of his senses only to justify his logic."
"One must love life before loving its meaning ... yes, and when the love of life disappears, no meaning can console us."
"I have no self-respect. But can a man of acute sensibility respect himself at all?"