“I have friends whose society is delightful to me; they are persons of all countries and of all ages; distinguished in war, in council, and in letters; easy to live with, always at my command.”

“How do you know, poor fool? Perhaps out there, somewhere, someone is sighing for your absence'; and with this thought, my soul begins to breathe.”

“So süß klingt allen Menschen das Wort Freiheit, dass selbst Keckheit und Frechheit überall Anklang finden, weil sie mit der Freiheit einige Ähnlichkeiten haben.”

“A short cut to riches is to subtract from our desires.”

“Shame is the fruit of my vanities, and remorse, and the clearest knowledge of how the world's delight is a brief dream.”

“Gold, silver, jewels, purple garments, houses built of marble, groomed estates, pious paintings, caparisoned steeds, and other things of this kind offer a mutable and superficial pleasure; books give delight to the very marrow of one's bones. They speak to us, consult with us, and join with us in a living and intense intimacy.”

“I ate in the morning what I would digest in the evening; I swallowed as a boy what I would ruminate upon as an older man. I have thoroughly absorbed these writings, implanting them not only in my memory but in my marrow. (Quoted by Josh Foer in Moonwalking With Einstein: The Art and Science of Remembering Everything)”