“I would not know what the spirit of a philosopher might wish more to be than a good dancer.”

“I am a disciple of the philosopher Dionysus, and I would prefer to be even a satyr than a saint.”

“To find everything profound - that is an inconvenient trait. It makes one strain one's eyes all the time, and in the end one finds more than one might have wished.”

“A good writer possesses not only his own spirit but also the spirit of his friends.”

“What is heavy? so asks the spirit that would bear much, and then kneels down like the camel, and wants to be well laden.”

“My dear friend, what is this our life? A boat that swims in the sea, and all one knows for certain about it is that one day it will capsize. Here we are, two good old boats that have been faithful neighbors, and above all your hand has done its best to keep me from "capsizing"! Let us then continue our voyage—each for the other's sake, for a long time yet, a long time! We should miss each other so much! Tolerably calm seas and good winds and above all sun—what I wish for myself, I wish for you, too, and am sorry that my gratitude can find expression only in such a wish and has no influence at all on wind or weather!”

“Here the spirit becomes a lion who would conquer his freedom and be master…Who is the great dragon whom the spirit will no longer call lord and go? ‘Thou shalt’ is the name of the great dragon.But the spirit of the lion says, ‘I will.”