There are truths which are not for all men, nor for all times.

That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history.

If there is one thing I fear less than everything else, it is, I believe, persecution for my opinions. There are a good many points about which I may be diffident, but when it comes to questions of Truth and intellectual independence, there is no holding me – I can envisage no finer end than to sacrifice oneself for a conviction.

The rule is perfect: in all matters of opinion our adversaries are insane.

The end is the beginning of all things, Suppressed and hidden, Awaiting to be released through the rhythm Of pain and pleasure.

Men may change their climate, but they cannot change their nature. A man that goes out a fool cannot ride or sail himself into common sense.

He who knows, does not speak. He who speaks, does not know.

I decided that it was not wisdom that enabled poets to write their poetry, but a kind of instinct or inspiration, such as you find in seers and prophets who deliver all their sublime messages without knowing in the least what they mean.

He that speaks much, is much mistaken.

Philosophy is written in this grand book, the universe, which stands continually open to our gaze. But the book cannot be understood unless one first learns to comprehend the language and read the letters in which it is composed.

My grandfather was smart and had a whole lot of pride. He didn’t speak a terrible amount, but you could tell there was a ton on his mind – like a quiet acceptance of how life had turned out.

Too much and too little wine. Give him none, he cannot find truth; give him too much, the same.

It is the superfluous things for which men sweat, – superfluous things that wear our togas theadbare, that force us to grow old in camp, that dash us upon foreign shores.

Nothing gives rest but the sincere search for truth.

You should do what other people do, unless you have a very good reason not to.

No one should be ashamed to admit he is wrong, which is but saying, in other words, that he is wiser today than he was yesterday.

One of the first signs of the beginning of understanding is the wish to die.

Let us beware of saying that death is the opposite of life. The living being is only a species of the dead, and a very rare species.

It is dangerous to be right in matters on which the established authorities are wrong.

Yesterday we obeyed kings and bent our necks before emperors. But today we kneel only to truth, follow only beauty, and obey only love.

There are only two ways of telling the complete truth – anonymously and posthumously.

When one does away with oneself one does the most estimable thing possible: one thereby almost deserves to live.

Religion is more than life. Remember that his own religion is the truest to every man even if it stands low in the scales of philosophical comparison.

How can one preach goodness and love to men without at the same time offering them an interpretation of the World that justifies this goodness and this love?

Death is not the worst that can happen to men.

Nothing in the affairs of men is worthy of great anxiety.

When you give, it comes back to you.

One of my favorite philosophical tenets is that people will agree with you only if they already agree with you. You do not change people’s minds.

When the solution is simple, God is answering.

If I shall exist eternally, how shall I exist tomorrow?

The misfortune of the wise is better than the prosperity of the fool.

Love is the wisdom of the fool and the folly of the wise.

Some old men, continually praise the time of their youth. In fact, you would almost think that there were no fools in their days, but unluckily they themselves are left as an example.

The wise man should restrain his senses like the crane and accomplish his purpose with due knowledge of his place, time and ability.

Age appears to be best in four things; old wood best to burn, old wine to drink, old friends to trust, and old authors to read.

I’m not afraid to die, I just don’t want to be there when it happens.

To realize that you do not understand is a virtue; Not to realize that you do not understand is a defect.

We learned about honesty and integrity – that the truth matters… that you don’t take shortcuts or play by your own set of rules… and success doesn’t count unless you earn it fair and square.

Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.

All credibility, all good conscience, all evidence of truth come only from the senses.

A person’s a person, no matter how small.

He that won’t be counseled can’t be helped.

No one but a fool is always right.

When one has finished building one’s house, one suddenly realizes that in the process one has learned something that one really needed to know in the worst way – before one began.

Life is neither good or evil, but only a place for good and evil.

It is best to avoid the beginnings of evil.

Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery.

There’s no point in saying anything but the truth.

A wise woman wishes to be no one’s enemy; a wise woman refuses to be anyone’s victim.

What we have to do, what at any rate it is our duty to do, is to revive the old art of Lying.

You’re born. You suffer. You die. Fortunately, there’s a loophole.

Interdependence is and ought to be as much the ideal of man as self-sufficiency. Man is a social being.

The superior man acts before he speaks, and afterwards speaks according to his action.

We are born believing. A man bears beliefs as a tree bears apples.

Power is not sufficient evidence of truth.

Falsehood is easy, truth so difficult.

It’s not worth doing something unless you were doing something that someone, somewere, would much rather you weren’t doing.

One must know oneself. If this does not serve to discover truth, it at least serves as a rule of life and there is nothing better.

Let’s embrace being not normal!

Silence is the sleep that nourishes wisdom.

One of the great questions of philosophy is, do we innately have morality, or do we get it from celestial dictation? A study of the Ten Commandments is a very good way of getting into and resolving that issue.