Mostly the loss teaches us only about the value of things.

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.

The promise, made when I am in love, to be true to the beloved as long as I live, commits me to being true even if I cease to be in love.

I've discovered that numerous peak performers use the skill of mental rehearsal of visualization. They mentally run through important events before they happen.

She was thirty-nine. No, she did not envy her eighteen-year- old self at all. But she did envy, envied every day more bitterly, that young girl's genuine independence, largeness, scope, and courage.

The ideal love affair should be conducted by post.

The worst of failure of this kind is that it spoils the market for more competent performers.

Journalism has a distinct place in familiarizing and expressing public opinion.

Tribes must be our homes, not our prisons.

Never let life's hardships disturb you. No one can avoid problems, not even saints or sages.

If everybody loves you, something is wrong. Find at least one enemy to keep you alert.

I think you just keep going. I've been that way, my whole life.