“Talkativeness is a symptom of deep-seated pessimism. Without it there would be no pessimistic literature.”

“Happiness is an art mastered by the very few. Genuinely happy people are as rare as Christians who believe in God.”

“I have a rule of thumb, one that will often enough rescue from one miserable situation only to plunge me into the next one. That is why to this day I have never made it as a general, a company executive, a cardinal, or a university professor, but only enjoy my status as a jester at my own private court and as a chronicler of the applied recollections of Vigoleis. This life-sustaining maxim of mine is as follows: in case of doubt, let truth be told.”

“Small causes can often have large effects. Smaller causes can have even bigger effects, and the very biggest effects frequently have no cause at all. Witness, for example, the world. It was created out of nothing, and that has made it the worst calamity the world has ever seen.”

“The the question whether I am a pessimist or an optimist, I answer that my knowledge is pessimistic, but my willing and hope are optimistic.”

“I'd rather be an optimist and a fool than a pessimist and right.”

“Without deep reflection one knows from daily life that one exist for other people”