“The man of knowledge must be able not only to love his enemies but also to hate his friends.”

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

“To be incapable of taking one's enemies, one's accidents, even one's misdeeds seriously for very long—that is the sign of strong, full natures in whom there is an excess of the power to form, to mold, to recuperate and to forget (a good example of this in modem times is Mirabeau, who had no memory for insults and vile actions done him and was unable to forgive simply because he—forgot). Such a man shakes off with a single shrug many vermin that eat deep into others; here alone genuine 'love of one's enemies' is possible—supposing it to be possible at all on earth. How much reverence has a noble man for his enemies!—and such reverence is a bridge to love.—For he desires his enemy for himself, as his mark of distinction; he can endure no other enemy than one in whom there is nothing to despise and very much to honor! In contrast to this, picture 'the enemy' as the man of ressentiment conceives him—and here precisely is his deed, his creation: he has conceived 'the evil enemy,' 'the Evil One,' and this in fact is his basic concept, from which he then evolves, as an afterthought and pendant, a 'good one'—himself!”

“If a man has character, he has also his typical experience, which always recurs.”

“The complete irresponsibility of man for his actions and his nature is the bitterest drop which he who understands must swallow.”

“One thing a man must have: either a naturally light disposition or a disposition lightened by art and knowledge.”

“Only when he has attained a final knowledge of all things will man have come to know himself. For things are only the boundaries of man.”