Where everything is possible miracles become commonplaces, but the familiar ceases to be self-evident.

We lie loudest when we lie to ourselves.

We used to think that revolutions are the cause of change. Actually it is the other way around: change prepares the ground for revolution.

What greater reassurance can the weak have than that they are like anyone else?

When cowardice is made respectable, its followers are without number both from among the weak and the strong; it easily becomes a fashion.

When people are bored it is primarily with themselves.

When people are free to do as they please, they usually imitate each other.

Wise living consists perhaps less in acquiring good habits than in acquiring as few habits as possible.

Whenever you trace the origin of a skill or practices which played a crucial role in the ascent of man, we usually reach the realm of play.

We feel free when we escape - even if it be but from the frying pan to the fire.

Where there is the necessary technical skill to move mountains, there is no need for the faith that moves mountains.

With some people solitariness is an escape not from others but from themselves. For they see in the eyes of others only a reflection of themselves.

Youth itself is a talent, a perishable talent.

When we believe ourselves in possession of the only truth, we are likely to be indifferent to common everyday truths.

There is probably an element of malice in our readiness to overestimate people - we are, as it were, laying up for ourselves the pleasure of later cutting them down to size.