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Quotes by Philosopher
"One must shed the bad taste of wanting to agree with many. "Good" is no longer good when one's neighbor mouths it. And how should there be a "common good"! The term contradicts itself: whatever can be common always has little value. In the end it must be as it is and always has been: great things remain for the great, abysses for the profound, nuances and shudders for the refined, and, in brief, all that is rare for the rare."
70
"A youth, when at home, should be filial and, abroad, respectful to his elders. He should be earnest and truthful. He should overflow in love to all and cultivate the friendship of the good. When he has time and opportunity, after the performance of these things, he should employ them in polite studies."
70
"The centre of me is always and eternally in terrible pain ... A searching for something beyond what the world contains, something transfiguring and infinite."
70
"If you want to improve, be content to be thought foolish and stupid."
70
"Honor means that a man is not exceptional; fame, that he is. Fame is something which must be won; honor, only something which must not be lost."
70
"Enough pain will keep you humble. Enough grief will keep you compassionate. Enough trouble will keep you strong. Enough hardship will keep you grateful."
70
"The richest person in the cemetery is the one who left behind the most happy memories."
69
"Fame and tranquility can never be bedfellows."
69
"Reserve your right to think, for even to think wrongly is better than not to think at all."
69
"My mission is to kill time, and time's to kill me in its turn. How comfortable one is among murderers."
69
"Madness is something rare in individuals - but in groups, parties, peoples, and ages, it is the rule."
69
"Love can be unselfish, in the sense of being benevolent and generous, without being selfless."
69
"The world of reality has its limits; the world of imagination is boundless."
69
"It is impossible to make your own luck without the ingredient of hard work."
69
"Hear others, and you will be heard. Understand others, and you will be understood. Help others, and you be will be helped. Love others, and you will be loved."
69
"Patriotism, whether it is of the Western kind, or of the Eastern kind, is the same, a poison in human beings that is really distorting thought. So patriotism is a disease, and when you begin to realize, become aware that it is a disease, then you will see how your mind is reacting to that disease. When, in time of war, the whole world talks of patriotism, you will know the falseness of it, and therefore you will act as a true human being."
69
"Anticipate charity by preventing poverty."
69
"Reading maketh a full man; conference a ready man; and writing an exact man."
69
"The real question is not whether life exists after death. The real question is: are you alive before death?"
69
"Sometimes it is not right to wait for the right train. Take any train instead of rotting at the station! In other words, be realistic!"
69
"The more we try to rest ourselves from our Egos, the deeper we sink into it."
69
"Habit is the enormous flywheel of society its most precious conservative agent. There is no more miserable human being than one in whom nothing is habitual but indecision. Full half the time of such a man goes to the deciding or regretting of matters which ought to be so ingrained in him as practically not to exist for his consciousness at all."
69
"The Papacy is not other than the Ghost of the deceased Roman Empire, sitting crowned upon the grave thereof."
69
"Knowing others is wisdom, knowing yourself is Enlightenment."
69
"Anger makes dull men witty, but it keeps them poor."
69
"Better a diamond with a flaw than a pebble without."
69
"In the long-run every Government is the exact symbol of its People, with their wisdom and unwisdom; we have to say, Like People like Government."
69
"The person who writes for fools is always sure of a large audience."
69
"I do not believe in pure idioms. I think there is naturally a desire, for whoever speaks or writes, to sign in an idiomatic, irreplaceable manner."
68
"To see others suffer does one good, to make others suffer even more: this is a hard saying but an ancient, mighty, human, all-too-human principle [....] Without cruelty there is no festival."
68
"The literal meaning of life is whatever you're doing that prevents you from killing yourself."
68
"A man without ethics is a wild beast loosed upon this world."
68
"Language is as old as consciousness, language is practical, real consciousness that exists for other men as well, and only therefore does it also exist for me; language, like consciousness, only arises from the need, the necessity, of intercourse with other men."
68
"Cherish that which is within you, and shut off that which is without; for much knowledge is a curse."
68
"I know the joy of fishes in the river through my own joy, as I go walking along the same river."
68
"That whose existence is necessary must necessarily be one essence."
68
"Even now man is more of an ape than any of the apes."
68
"It is not humiliating to be unhappy. Physical suffering is sometimes humiliating, but the suffering of being cannot be, it is life."
68
"Contradiction is not a sign of falsity, nor the lack of contradiction a sign of truth."
68
"How many things can I do without?"
68
"Angels are good not simply because they see bad as bad, but also because they see bad as corny."
68
"While all deception requires secrecy, all secrecy is not meant to deceive."
68
"If one oversteps the bounds of moderation, the greatest pleasures cease to please."
68
"An oppressive government is more to be feared than a tiger."
68
"Democracy is the process by which people choose the man who'll get the blame."
68
"To change ones life: Start immediately. Do it flamboyantly."
68
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