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

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

Whatever is done for love always occurs beyond good and evil.

When I was young I wanted so much to be like her. What a blessing are those moments when there is nothing to worry about, no thought of trouble or grief in the world.

It's fine to celebrate success but it is more important to heed the lessons of failure.

I would not attack the faith of a heathen without being sure I had a better one to put in its place.

I dare hope that all the peoples who have lived through communism will understand that communism is to blame for the bitter pages of their history.

"What is the secret of your serenity?" Said the master: "Wholehearted cooperation with the inevitable."

Photographers, like kids, should be seen and not heard.

You can't be pregnant in leotards, and this is the last chance for us to get our bodies into the shape of concert dancers and capture it with the magic of film.

Money to me is not a factor in my life.

When I am writing a story it feels as real as the life I am experiencing off the page. It's an emotional illusion, I guess.

Most of my life has been one tragedy after another, most of which hasn't happened.