Nothing is more piquant than when a man of genius possesses mannerisms; not so when they possess him -- this leads to spiritual petrification.

Irony is a clear consciousness of an eternal agility, of the infinitely abundant chaos.

Versatility of education can be found in our best poetry, but the depth of mankind should be found in the philosopher.

Aphorisms are the true form of the universal philosophy.

Nothing truly convincing - which would possess thoroughness, vigor, and skill - has been written against the ancients as yet; especially not against their poetry.

Strictly speaking, the idea of a scientific poem is probably as nonsensical as that of a poetic science.

Novels are the Socratic dialogues of our time. Practical wisdom fled from school wisdom into this liberal form.

Wit as an instrument of revenge is as infamous as art is as a means of sensual titillation.

The main thing is to know something and to say it.

When reason and unreason come into contact, an electrical shock occurs. This is called polemics.

A priest is he who lives solely in the realm of the invisible, for whom all that is visible has only the truth of an allegory.

To be unbroken, what would that be?If words that were spoken, had not shattered me

Slavery remains rife, the shackles are just different. Labels and desires have replaced the cuffs and chains.

I'm standing in a slaughterhouse where the cattle are begging to become hamburgers. I have a right to be jumpy.

If you know only one language, you're a prisoner, stuck in the tyranny of that one language.

Disruption is, at its core, a really powerful idea, but everyone hijacks the idea to do whatever they want now.

We have free elections. Everybody can vote, we fought for that, we brag about that and we know we're going to have a winner and we're going to have a loser.

I always felt that rap didn't cause crime; it just reflected it.

I don't try to please when I play. I try to cure.

Should doubt knock at your doorway, just say to those skeptical, disturbing, rebellious thoughts: "I propose to stay with my faith, with the faith of my people."

I do make a conscious effort to bring energy every day. Have fun, keep stuff light, all of that stuff.