“There is always some madness in love. But there is also always some reason in madness.”

Silence is worse; all truths that are kept silent become poisonous.

The most perfidious way of harming a cause consists of defending it deliberately with faulty arguments.

After coming into contact with a religious man I always feel I must wash my hands.

There are no facts, only interpretations.

Is man merely a mistake of God’s? Or God merely a mistake of man?

The voice of beauty speaks softly; it creeps only into the most fully awakened souls.

And those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music.

Convictions are more dangerous foes of truth than lies.

Art is the proper task of life.

I cannot believe in a God who wants to be praised all the time.

A casual stroll through the lunatic asylum shows that faith does not prove anything.

Talking much about oneself can also be a means to conceal oneself.

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

He who would learn to fly one day must first learn to walk and run and climb and dance; one cannot fly into flying.

It is not a lack of love, but a lack of friendship that makes unhappy marriages.

Perhaps I know best why it is man alone who laughs; he alone suffers so deeply that he had to invent laughter.

Power without love is reckless and abusive, and love without power is sentimental and anemic.

It is not every man’s fate to marry the woman who loves him best.

Ultimately, it is the desire, not the desired, that we love.

I lay in bed at night crying to myself. The only one who loved me and watched over me was someone I couldn’t see or hear or touch.

First love is only a little foolishness and a lot of curiosity.

Love is the name for our pursuit of wholeness, for our desire to be complete.

One is loved because one is loved. No reason is needed for loving.

If nothing saves us from death, at least love should save us from life.