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

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.

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

Man is the cruelest animal.

There are no eternal facts, as there are no absolute truths.

All I need is a sheet of paper and something to write with, and then I can turn the world upside down.

My solitude doesn’t depend on the presence or absence of people; on the contrary, I hate who steals my solitude without, in exchange, offering me true company.

The snake which cannot cast its skin has to die.

Man is something that shall be overcome. Man is a rope, tied between beast and overman – a rope over an abyss.