The most gifted natures are perhaps also the most trembling.
The most decisive actions of life are most often unconsidered actions.
No theory is good unless it permits, not rest, but the greatest work. No theory is good except on condition that one use it to go on beyond.
It is unthinkable for a Frenchman to arrive at middle age without having syphilis and the Cross of the Legion of Honor.
God depends on us. It is through us that God is achieved.
It is with fine sentiments that bad literature is made. Descend to the bottom of the well if you wish to see the stars.
Often with good sentiments we produce bad literature.
What would there be in a story of happiness? Only what prepares it, only what destroys it can be told.
It is with noble sentiments that bad literature gets written.
The want of logic annoys. Too much logic bores. Life eludes logic, and everything that logic alone constructs remains artificial and forced.
It is good to follow one's own bent, so long as it leads upward.