A desire for truth is by no means a need for certitude and it would be unwise to confuse one with the other.
We call "happiness" a certain set of circumstances that makes joy possible. But we call joy that state of mind and emotions that needs nothing to feel happy.
I have no use for knowledge that has not been preceded by a sensation
Christianity, above all, consoles; but there are naturally happy souls who do not need consolation. Consequently Christianity begins by making such souls unhappy, for otherwise it would have no power over them.
I wished for nothing beyond her smile, and to walk with her thus, hand in hand, along a sun warmed, flower bordered path.
The thing I am most aware of is my limits. And this is natural; for I never, or almost never, occupy the middle of my cage; my whole being surges toward the bars.
Envying another man's happiness is madness; you wouldn't know what to do with it if you had it.
When I cease to be indignant I will have begun my old age.
Understanding is the beginning of approving.
Welcome anything that comes to you, but do not long for anything else.
How much more sensuality invites to art than does sentimentality.
Long only for what you have.
The less intelligent the white man is, the more stupid he thinks the black.
Those who have never been ill are incapable of real sympathy for a great many misfortunes
What seems different in yourself; that's the rare thing you possess. The one thing that gives each of us his worth, and that's just what we try to suppress. And we claim to love life.
Man! The most complex of creatures, and for this reason the most dependant of creatures. On everything that has formed you, you may depend. Do not balk at this apparent slavery....a debtor to many, you pay for your advantages by the same number of dependencies. Understand that independence is a form of poverty; that many things claim you, that many also claim kinship with you.
It is easier to lead men to combat, stirring up their passion, than to restrain them and direct them toward the patient labors of peace.
It is with fine sentiments that bad literature is made. Descend to the bottom of the well if you wish to see the stars.
Great minds tend toward banality. It is the noblest effort of individualism. But it implies a sort of modesty, which is so rare that it is scarcely found except in the greatest, or in beggars.
Art is a collaboration between God and the artist, and the less the artist does the better.
A straight path never leads anywhere except to the objective.
To understand is nothing, but to be understood-that is the problem and the source of anguish. The soul throbs and would have the other know-but can not and feels isolated. Then come gestures, words, awkward explanations and material symbols for imponderable outbursts of feeling-and the soul despairs.
The finest virtues can become deformed with age. The precise mind becomes finicky; the thrifty man, miserly; the cautious man, timorous; the man of imagination, fanciful. Even perseverance ends up in a sort of stupidity. Just as, on the other hand, being too willing to understand too many opinions, too diverse ways of seeing, constancy is lost and the mind goes astray in a restless fickleness.
The want of logic annoys. Too much logic bores. Life eludes logic, and everything that logic alone constructs remains artificial and forced.
The most subtle art, the strongest and deepest art - supreme art - is the one that does not at first allow itself to be recognized.
Follow AzQuotes on Facebook, Twitter and Google+. Every day we present the best quotes! Improve yourself, find your inspiration, share with friends
or simply: