“Unless suffering is the direct and immediate object of life, our existence must entirely fail of its aim. It is absurd to look upon the enormous amount of pain that abounds everywhere in the world, and originates in needs and necessities inseparable from life itself, as serving no purpose at all and the result of mere chance. Each separate misfortune, as it comes, seems, no doubt, to be something exceptional; but misfortune in general is the rule.I know of no greater absurdity than that propounded by most systems of philosophy in declaring evil to be negative in its character. Evil is just what is positive; it makes its own existence felt.”

“Change alone is eternal, perpetual, immortal.”

“Because people have no thoughts to deal in, they deal cards, and try and win one another's money. Idiots!”

“Satisfaction consists in freedom from pain, which is the positive element of life.”

“Almost all of our sorrows spring out of our relations with other people.”

“Great men are like eagles, and build their nest on some lofty solitude.”

“With people of limited ability modesty is merely honesty. But with those who possess great talent it is hypocrisy.”

“To live alone is the fate of all great souls.”

“It is only a man's own fundamental thoughts that have truth and life in them. For it is these that he really and completely understands. To read the thoughts of others is like taking the remains of someone else's meal, like putting on the discarded clothes of a stranger.”

“All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident.”

“The discovery of truth is prevented more effectively, not by the false appearance things present and which mislead into error, not directly by weakness of the reasoning powers, but by preconceived opinion, by prejudice.”