Humankind has understood history as a series of battles because, to this day, it regards conflict as the central facet of life.

Knowledge is of no value unless you put it into practice.

Any idiot can face a crisis - it's day to day living that wears you out.

Love, friendship and respect do not unite people as much as common hatred for something.

Do silly things. Foolishness is a great deal more vital and healthy than our straining and striving after a meaningful life.

Everything on earth is beautiful, everything -- except what we ourselves think and do when we forget the higher purposes of life and our own human dignity.

The task of a writer is not to solve the problem but to state the problem correctly.

Don't tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass.

What a fine weather today! Can’t choose whether to drink tea or to hang myself.

People should be beautiful in every way - in their faces, in the way they dress, in their thoughts, and in their innermost selves.

Life is given only once, and one wants to live it boldly, with full conscious and beauty.

Work is not a curse; it is the prerogative of intelligence, the only means to manhood, and the measure of civilization.

I grew up in New York in an English-speaking environment.

It's not refreshing where there is confusion or any kind of discomfort in a group that has to work that closely together.

When something irritates me, I don't go home and write; I just don't do that.

Instead of just getting old and giving up and dying, let's learn to make a huge contribution to life.

The problems for which I could find no solution in fact had no solution.

When you are frightened, you typically pull energy in to your center, seeing less, hearing less-shrinking consciousness precisely when you need to expand it.

Jesus wanted far more than to be accepted into one's life. He wanted to take over, and his essential call was to trust him enough to surrender one's entire being to him.

It is only with the eyes open that a corporeal form returns, and assembles itself firmly around the hard core of sight.

Opportunities don't knock, they whisper. So shut up and listen.