“Contentment is the only real wealth.”

If I have a thousand ideas and only one turns out to be good, I am satisfied.

I am a misanthrope yet utterly benevolent.

My dynamite will sooner lead to peace than a thousand world conventions. As soon as men will find that in one instant, whole armies can be utterly destroyed, they surely will abide by golden peace.

The only true solution would be a convention under which all the governments would bind themselves to defend collectively any country that was attacked.

Lying is the greatest of all sins.

Nature is man’s teacher. She unfolds her treasures to his search, unseals his eye, illumes his mind, and purifies his heart; an influence breathes from all the sights and sounds of her existence.

For me writing biographies is impossible, unless they are brief and concise, and these are, I feel, the most eloquent.

One can state, without exaggeration, that the observation of and the search for similarities and differences are the basis of all human knowledge.

It is not sufficient to be worthy of respect in order to be respected.

I am a misanthrope and yet utterly benevolent, have more than one screw loose yet am a super-idealist who digests philosophy more efficiently than food.

It is my express wish that in awarding the [Nobel Prizes] no consideration be given to the nationality of the candidates, but that the most worthy shall receive the prize, whether he be Scandinavian or not.

A heart can no more be forced to love than a stomach can be forced to digest food by persuasion.

The truthful man is usually a liar.

Lawyers have to make a living, and can only do so by inducing people to believe that a straight line is crooked.

Good wishes alone will not ensure peace.

My home is where I work, and I work everywhere.

Socialism is like a dream. Sooner or later you wake up to reality.

Life is tough, then you die.

You don’t know who is important to you until you actually lose them.

If you want to tell people the truth, make them laugh, otherwise they’ll kill you.

Reality is an absolute, existence is an absolute, a speck of dust is an absolute and so is a human life.

It can be heartbreaking when you find out that your fairy tale image of the world doesn’t match the reality.

Real life is a funny thing, you know. In real life saying the right thing at the right time is beyond crucial.

Reality exists in the human mind, and nowhere else.