“It's always worthwhile speaking to a clever man.”

“The first category is always the man of the present, the second the man of the future. The first preserve the world and people it, the second move the world and lead it to its goal.”

“But what can a decent man speak of with most pleasure?Answer: Of himself.Well, so I will talk about myself.”

“People speak sometimes about the "bestial" cruelty of man, but that is terribly unjust and offensive to beasts, no animal could ever be so cruel as a man, so artfully, so artistically cruel.”

“Indeed, people speak sometimes about the ‘animal’ cruelty of man, but that is terribly unjust and offensive to animals, no animal could ever be so cruel as a man, so artfully, so artistically cruel”

“Oh, I remember, I remember all those moments! And I want to add, too, that when such young creatures, such sweet young creatures want to say something so clever and profound, they show at once so truthfully and naively in their faces, "Here I am saying something clever and profound now" — and that is not from vanity, as it is with any one like me, but one sees that she appreciates it awfully herself, and believes in it, and thinks a lot of it, and imagines that you think a lot of all that, just as she does. Oh, truthfulness! It's by that they conquer us. How exquisite it was in her!”

“I maintain that he is in his right mind, and that if he had not been, he would have behaved more cleverly.”