“What is existence for but to be laughed at if men in their twenties have already attained the utmost?”

It is perfectly true, as philosophers say, that life must be understood backwards. But they forget the other proposition, that it must be lived forwards.

There is nothing with which every man is so afraid as getting to know how enormously much he is capable of doing and becoming.

Once you are born in this world you’re old enough to die.

The present state of the world and the whole of life is diseased. If I were a doctor and were asked for my advice, I should reply, ‘Create silence’.

Listen to the cry of a woman in labor at the hour of giving birth — look at the dying man’s struggle at his last extremity, and then tell me whether something that begins and ends thus could be intended for enjoyment.

Don’t forget to love yourself.

It is the duty of the human understanding to understand that there are things which it cannot understand.

The self-assured believer is a greater sinner in the eyes of God than the troubled disbeliever.

My sorrow is my castle.

The function of prayer is not to influence God, but rather to change the nature of the one who prays.

It is very important in life to know when your cue comes.

Face the facts of being what you are, for that is what changes what you are.

People understand me so poorly that they don’t even understand my complaint about them not understanding me.

It is impossible to exist without passion.

The task must be made difficult, for only the difficult inspires the noble-hearted.

It is so hard to believe because it is so hard to obey.

We leave something of ourselves behind when we leave a place, but we find things in us we didn’t even know existed.

To think? That’s it. It is thought. This alone cannot be detached from me. I am, I exist; that is certain.

My words fly around you like the annoying flies that only exist to disturb the silence and bite sometimes. When did I become so small

Am I so tied to a body and senses that I am incapable of existing without them?

There must be must be a first mover existing above all – and this we call God.

To pretend angels do not exist because they are invisible is to believe we never sleep because we don’t see ourselves sleeping.

He and I were like water and oil, We could co-exist, but never quite mixed.

Miracles don’t exist it’s just the good deeds that pile up, the warm smiles and love. Eventually all of it overflows and creates what appears to be a miracle.