Not curiosity, not vanity, not the consideration of expediency, not duty and conscientiousness, but an unquenchable, unhappy thirst that brooks no compromise leads us to truth.

We learn from history that we do not learn from history

To be independent of public opinion is the first formal condition of achieving anything great.

Truth is found neither in the thesis nor the antithesis, but in an emergent synthesis which reconciles the two.

Nothing great in the world has ever been accomplished without passion.

Genuine tragedies in the world are not conflicts between right and wrong. They are conflicts between two rights.

What history teaches us is that neither nations nor governments ever learn anything from it.

I have the courage to be mistaken.

All education is the art of making men ethical (sittlich), of transforming the old Adam into the new Adam.

To be aware of limitations is already to be beyond them.

Africa has no history and did not contribute to anything that mankind enjoyed.

Great poets are great copy editors.

It hurts to love. It's like giving yourself to be flayed and knowing that at any moment the other person may just walk off with your skin.

The mind's eye is perhaps no better fitted for the full radiance of truth, than is the body's for that of the sun.

I'm a better writer now because I've worked very hard at getting better. My long-range goal will always be to write better books.

To humiliate and be humiliated, I think, is a crucial element in our whole social structure. It's not only the artist I'm sorry for. It's just that I know exactly where he feels most humiliated.

The border between editing and ghostwriting is, at its extremes, a bit porous. An editor really improves and sometimes restructures a manuscript and suggests changes.

The pleasure of expecting enjoyment is often greater than that of obtaining it, and the completion of almost every wish is found a disappointment.

When you close your eyes to tragedy, you close your eyes to greatness.

America is a country that will not be broken by fear. And instead, America is a country blessed with citizens marked by goodwill and great resolve.

I think people should consume their music any way they want. If it's more practical for them to listen to it on an iPod or something, that's fine by me.