“Suffering — how divine it is, how misunderstood! We owe to it all that is good in us, all that gives value to life; we owe to it pity, we owe to it courage, we owe to it all the virtues.”

To be willing to die for an idea is to set a rather high price on conjecture.

Man is summed up in Art. All the rest is moonshine.

Stupidity is far more dangerous than evil, for evil takes a break from time to time, stupidity does not.

He would not stoop even to pick up the old manuscript I am going to seek with so much trouble and fatigue. And in truth man is made rather to eat ices than to pore over old texts.

For the majority of people, though they do not know what to do with this life, long for another that shall have no end.

Yet, every now and then, there would pass a young girl, slender, fair and desirable, arousing in young men a not ignoble desire to possess her, and stirring in old men regrets for ecstasy not seized and now forever past.

Our passions are ourselves.

It is the certainty that they possess the truth that makes men cruel.

What can be more foolish than to think that all this rare fabric of heaven and earth could come by chance?

Until one has loved an animal, a part of one’s soul remains unawakened.

In art as in love, instinct is enough.

The books that everybody admires are those that nobody reads.

All the good writers of confessions, from Augustine onwards, are men who are still a little in love with their sins.

Wandering re-establishes the original harmony which once existed between man and the universe.

We have never heard the devil’s side of the story, God wrote all the book.

It is good to collect things, but it is better to go on walks.

Have the courage to be exactly who you are without apology. Admit your mistakes without beating yourself up. Release all shame! Release all guilt! You cannot live if you are hiding behind what was. Focus on what is, right now, and that is you!

Sometimes the rewards of risk don’t leave us wrecked. Sometimes we find our passion, our purpose, courage, connection, and comfort. Every good thing in our lives is a direct result of risk.

Humility does not mean you think less of yourself. It means you think of yourself less.

Many discouraging hours will arise before the rainbow of accomplished goals will appear on the horizon.

Well, since I’m six years old, I’ve been playing the violin, the piano, I’ve been singing. It’s always been a dream of mine, but I really never had the courage to actually go and do it professionally.

An unbelieved truth can hurt a man much more than a lie. It takes great courage to back truth unacceptable to our times. There’s a punishment for it, and it’s usually crucifixion.

It takes a lot more courage to let something go than it does to hang on to it, trying to make it better. Letting go doesn’t mean ignoring a situation. Letting go means accepting what is, exactly as it is, without fear, resistance, or a struggle for control.

Spiritual maturity does not mean that we will never make wrong plans. In fact, spiritual maturity often means having the courage to admit we’ve made the wrong plans.