“If it is true that only misfortune can awaken a man's soul, it is a bitter truth, one that is hard to hear and accept, and it is only natural that many people deny it and say it is better for a man to live on in a trance than to wake up to torture.”

“However low he may fall, a man can never deny himself the delight of feeling cleverer, more powerful or even better fed than his companions.”

“What I'd like is to meet a man I could take off my hat to and say: "Thank you for having got born, and the longer you live the better.”

“The good qualities in our soul are most successfully and forcefully awakened by the power of art. Just as science is the intellect of the world, art is its soul.”

“One word of praise from a woman is dearer to me than a whole ode from a man . .”

“Lies are the religion of slaves and masters. Truth is the god of the free man.”

“You must write for children the same way you write for adults, only better.”