“It is not without cause that men feel the burden of their existence, though they are themselves the cause of those burdens.”

Genius is the ability to independently arrive at and understand concepts that would normally have to be taught by another person.

Simply to acquiesce in skepticism can never suffice to overcome the restlessness of reason.

Out of the crooked timber of humanity, no straight thing was ever made.

The main point of enlightenment is man’s release from his self-caused immaturity, primarily in matters of religion.

If justice perishes, then it is no longer worthwhile for men to live upon the earth.

From such crooked timber as humanity is made of, no straight thing was ever constructed.

We can never, even by the strictest examination, get completely behind the secret springs of action.

I have therefore found it necessary to deny knowledge, in order to make room for faith.

You must, therefore you can. A free will and a will subject to moral laws are one and the same thing.

All human cognition begins with intuitions, proceeds from thence to conceptions, and ends with ideas.

All so-called moral interest consists simply in respect for the law.

War seems to be ingrained in human nature, and even to be regarded as something noble to which man is inspired by his love of honor, without selfish motives.

Human beings are never to be treated as a means but always as ends.

It is certainly a bad sign of common sense to appeal to it as a witness.

To be is to do.

But only he who, himself enlightened, is not afraid of shadows.

To have his path made clear for him is the aspiration of every human being in our beclouded and tempestuous existence.

The Romans had been able to post their laws on boards in public places, confidant that enough literate people existed to read them; far into the Middle Ages, even kings remained illiterate.

Charm is the great English blight. It does not exist outside these damp islands. It spots and kills anything it touches. It kills love; it kills art; I greatly fear, my dear Charles, it has killed you.

Hint at the existence of wickedness in a light, easy, and agreeable manner, so that nobody’s fine feelings may be offended.

What is freedom of expression? Without the freedom to offend, it ceases to exist.

The world outside existed in a kind of darkness; and we inquired about nothing.

If love means that one person absorbs the other, then no real relationship exists any more. Love evaporates; there is nothing left to love. The integrity of self is gone.

I don’t believe that people would ever fall in love or want to be married if they hadn’t been told about it. It’s like abroad: no one would want to go there if they hadn’t been told it existed.