The whole art of living consists in giving up existence in order to exist.
The real scholar learns how to evolve the unknown from the known, and draws near the master.
The most foolish of all errors is for clever young men to believe that they forfeit their originality in recognising a truth which has already been recognised by others.
The history of knowledge is a great fugue in which the voices of the nations one after the other emerge.
The historian’s duty is to separate the true from the false, the certain from the uncertain, and the doubtful from that which cannot be accepted.
The greatest piece of folly is that every man thinks himself compelled to hand down what people think they have known.
The further knowledge advances, the nearer we come to the unfathomable: the more we know how to use our knowledge, the better we see that the unfathomable is of no practical use.
The errors of a man are what make him really lovable.
The Beautiful is a manifestation of secret laws of nature, which, without its presence, would never have been revealed.
Tell me with whom you associate, and I will tell you who you are.
Superstition is the poetry of life.
Superstition is a part of the very being of humanity; and when we fancy that we are banishing it altogether, it takes refuge in the strangest nooks and corners, and then suddenly comes forth again, as soon as it believes itself at all safe.