“Rather I fear on the contrary that while we banish painful thoughts we may banish memory as well.”

An imbalance between rich and poor is the oldest and most fatal ailment of all republics.

The superstitious man wishes he did not believe in gods, as the atheist does not, but fears to disbelieve in them.

The poor go to war, to fight and die for the delights, riches, and superfluities of others.

In a certain faraway land the cold is so intense that words freeze as soon as they are uttered, and after some time then thaw and become audible so that words spoken in winter go unheard until the next summer.

The truly pious must negotiate a difficult course between the precipice of godlessness and the marsh of superstition.

Come and take them.

I am all that hath been, and is, and shall be, and my veil no mortal has hitherto raised.

A few vices are sufficient to darken many virtues.

Remember what Simonides said, that he never repented that he had held his tongue, but often that he had spoken.

The future bears down upon each one of us with all the hazards of the unknown. The only way out is through.

To find fault is easy; to do better may be difficult.

To make no mistakes is not in the power of man, but from their errors and mistakes, the wise and good learn wisdom for the future.

Character is simply a habit long continued.

Vultures are the most righteous of birds: they do not attack even the smallest living creature.

The fact is that men who know nothing of decency in their own lives are only too ready to launch foul slanders against their betters and to offer them up as victims to the evil deity of popular envy.

The process may seem strange and yet it is very true. I did not so much gain the knowledge of things by the words, as words by the experience I had of things.

I never yet feared those men who set a place apart in the middle of their cities where they gather to cheat one another and swear oaths which they break.

Power does not corrupt. Fear corrupts, perhaps the fear of a loss of power.

The only way to get rid of my fears is to make films about them.

Give them pleasure – the same pleasure they have when they wake up from a nightmare.

Fear of sexuality is the new, disease-sponsored register of the universe of fear in which everyone now lives.

There is no terror in the bang, only in the anticipation of it.

I fear my enthusiasm flags when real work is demanded of me.

Whenever we’re afraid, it’s because we don’t know enough. If we understood enough, we would never be afraid.