Be steady and well-ordered in your life so that you can be fierce and original in your work.

Travel makes one modest. You see what a tiny place you occupy in the world.

Do not read, as children do, to amuse yourself, or like the ambitious, for the purpose of instruction. No, read in order to live.

I believe that if one always looked at the skies, one would end up with wings.

It seems to me that I have always existed and that I possess memories that date back to the Pharaohs.

Stupidity is something unshakable; nothing attacks it without breaking itself against it; it is of the nature of granite, hard and resistant.

Human speech is like a cracked kettle on which we tap crude rhythms for bears to dance to, while we long to make music that will melt the stars.

A man is a critic when he cannot be an artist, in the same way that a man becomes an informer when he cannot be a soldier.

I tried to discover, in the rumor of forests and waves, words that other men could not hear, and I pricked up my ears to listen to the revelation of their harmony.

There is not a particle of life which does not bear poetry within it

To be stupid, selfish, and have good health are three requirements for happiness, though if stupidity is lacking, all is lost.

Simple and plain things can touch your heart very easily! If you can be simple and plain, you can touch every heart!

I struggle to discover what these silent sons of mine want, but words have always failed me. They are sullen even as they tell me they are okay. I know they are lying but there is nothing I can do.

The foolishness of the cross is the wisdom of God and the wisdom of God is powerful in its impact.

Self-consciousness is the curse of the city and all that sophistication implies.

Have no respect for the authority of others, for there are always contrary authorities to be found

We must recognize that every nation determines its policies in terms of its own interests.

The church is like a swimming pool. Most of the noise comes from the shallow end.

Thinkers prepare the revolution and bandits carry it out.

A productive purpose to which you give yourself fully and joyfully is one of the great adventures of life. It is a uniquely human source of happiness.

A man gains no possession better than a good woman, nothing more horrible than a bad one.