One does not hate as long as one disesteems, but only when one esteems equal or superior

I obviously do everything to be "hard to understand" myself

The consequences of our actions take hold of us, quite indifferent to our claim that meanwhile we have 'improved.

In music the passions enjoy themselves.

The vanity of others runs counter to our taste only when it runs counter to our vanity.

One loves ultimately one's desires, not the thing desired.

A man who wills commands something within himself that renders obedience, or that he believes renders obedience.

Madness is something rare in individuals — but in groups, parties, peoples, and ages, it is the rule.

The maturity of man—that means, to have reacquired the seriousness that one had as a child at play

A soul that knows it is loved but does not itself love betrays its sediment: what is at bottom comes up."―Epigrams and Interludes, Section 79

When we have to change an opinion about any one, we charge heavily to his account the inconvenience he thereby causes us.

For how long would I be trapped in the condition of melancholy without going insane?

Wealth is the slave of a wise man. The master of a fool

It is better to revel in life than to wallow in it.

I don't have a girlfriend. But I do know a woman who'd be mad at me for saying that.

We have very strong environmental laws in the United States and elsewhere around the world. The problem is that they're seldom enforced.

We only make peace with our enemies. That's why it's called making peace.

Advice from others is always filtered through self interest.

The Internet provides very serious challenges to our ability to keep from children the kinds of things that are destructive to them

Play allows us to maintain curiosity while learning.

Anger is the right response to something that is so wrong. But don't let the anger and pain and loss you feel prevent you from forgiving him and removing your hands from around his neck.