A man who wills commands something within himself that renders obedience, or that he believes renders obedience.

I obviously do everything to be "hard to understand" myself

The consequences of our actions take hold of us, quite indifferent to our claim that meanwhile we have 'improved.

In music the passions enjoy themselves.

The vanity of others runs counter to our taste only when it runs counter to our vanity.

One loves ultimately one's desires, not the thing desired.

Madness is something rare in individuals — but in groups, parties, peoples, and ages, it is the rule.

The maturity of man—that means, to have reacquired the seriousness that one had as a child at play

A soul that knows it is loved but does not itself love betrays its sediment: what is at bottom comes up."―Epigrams and Interludes, Section 79

When we have to change an opinion about any one, we charge heavily to his account the inconvenience he thereby causes us.

Whatever is done for love always occurs beyond good and evil.

The first time you marry for love, the second for money, and the third for companionship.

People are concerned, here again, about life, and haven't given a whole lot of attention to how you make fathers responsible for the lives they bring into the world.

We can't fix all problems but we must fix the ones we can

What is essential in a work of art is that it should rise far above the realm of personal life and speak to the spirit and heart of the poet as man to the spirit and heart of mankind.

The Sixties was a time of breaking down class barriers, although I think class still exists today in some areas.

Practice and enlightenment are not two.

Whatever energy you put out there, that's the energy you're going to get back.

The volatile truth of our words should continually betray the inadequacy of the residual statement.

People often imagine that being hard to please confers a certain superiority.

You, too, be courageous! The world needs convinced and fearless witnesses. It is not enough to discuss, it is necessary to act!