Every hero is a Samson. The strong man succumbs to the intrigues of the weak and the many; and if in the end he loses all patience he crushes both them and himself.

All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident.

It is difficult to find happiness within oneself, but it is impossible to find it anywhere else.

The majority of men... are not capable of thinking, but only of believing, and... are not accessible to reason, but only to authority.

Talent hits a target no one else can hit; Genius hits a target no one else can see.

A man can be himself only so long as he is alone; and if he does not love solitude, he will not love freedom; for it is only when he is alone that he is really free.

Man is the only animal who causes pain to others with no other object than wanting to do so.

Genius and madness have something in common: both live in a world that is different from that which exists for everyone else.

A pessimist is an optimist in full possession of the facts.

Religions are like fireflies. They require darkness in order to shine.

Nature shows that with the growth of intelligence comes increased capacity for pain, and it is only with the highest degree of intelligence that suffering reaches its supreme point.

People see you as an object not as a person and they project a set of expectations onto you. People who don't have it think beauty is a blessing but actually it sets you apart.

There are only two types of women - goddesses and doormats.

I travel a lot. A lot, a lot. I don't have a single passport that doesn't have extra pages on it.

It is mere rubbish thinking, at present, of origin of life; one might as well think of origin of matter.

I would like to talk about some of the things that happened that made me know that there was something wrong in the south from a child.

I'm neither an optimist nor a pessimist. I am a dyed-in-the-woo l possibilist! By this, I mean with an eco-mind, we see that everything's connected and change is the only constant.

So young a child ought to know which way she's going, even if she doesn't know her own name!

I am here and I'm alive. That's enough.

The larger and more indiscriminate the audience, the greater the need to safeguard and purify standards of quality and taste.

One of the great undiscovered joys of life comes from doing everything one attempts to the best of one's ability. The smallest task, well done, becomes a miracle of achievement.