“There is nothing more awful, insulting, and depressing than banality.”

What seems to us serious, significant and important will, in future times, be forgotten or won’t seem important at all.

Man will become better when you show him what he is like.

Just as I shall lie alone in the grave, so, in essence, do I live alone.

Knowledge is of no value unless you put it into practice.

When asked, “Why do you always wear black?”, he said, “I am mourning for my life.

Exquisite nature, daydreams, and music say one thing, real life another.

Not one of our mortal gauges is suitable for evaluating non-existence, for making judgments about that which is not a person.

You will not become a saint through other people’s sins.

The government is not God. It does not have the right to take away that which it can’t return even if it wants to.

Oh, I have now a mania for shortness. Whatever I read – my own or other people’s works – it all seems to me not short enough.

The happy man only feels at ease because the unhappy bear their burden in silence. Without this silence, happiness would be impossible.

He is an emancipated thinker who is not afraid to write foolish things.

I kept thinking how marvellous it would be if I could somehow tear my heart, which felt so heavy, out of my chest.

My own experience is that once a story has been written, one has to cross out the beginning and the end. It is there that we authors do most of our lying.

In short stories it is better to say not enough than to say too much, because, because–I don’t know why.

It’s not a matter of old or new forms; a person writes without thinking about any forms, he writes because it flows freely from his soul.

If investing is entertaining, if you’re having fun, you’re probably not making any money. Good investing is boring.

I never really studied business in school. I kind of wish I had, but how boring is that?

Remember that, however patient your study, you will never in adult life learn any language perfectly; the best you can hope for is to be a bore.

What if it’s boring – or if it’s not boring, it might be too revealing, or worse, it might be too revealing and still be boring.

I haven’t been to rehab, I don’t do anything eccentric – I’m really boring.

How mundane it is for us to realize that we are all breathing under the same sky.

It would be positively boring if minds were in tune.

I just get bored easily. As I’m sure other people do too.