We are always exposed to danger that threatens us not, we take oaths that bind us to nothing, we challenge our enemies we do not fear - here is the false tyranny of decadence that is called freedom.
A holiday, like liberalism, marks human freedom. The miracle is God's freedom.
Once upon a time, "compromise" meant that half a loaf was better than nothing. For today's politicians, "compromise" means that half a loaf of bread is better than a whole loaf.
Simple people will always be sentimental; sentimental is the one who does not hide his most intimate feelings, who does not try to invent a new way of expressing them.
Psychoanalysis is a confession, without the absolution of sins.
The puritan is a person who pours out his indignation on what he shouldn't.
The Puritan tries to understand the truth; the Catholic is content with the fact that he exists.
Travel develops the mind, if of course you have one.
Once man learns to play at his leisure, why should he not learn and think of his own pleasure?
A growing need in a strong man is an undeniable sign of weakness.
A novel in which no one dies seems to me a lifeless novel.
Serious doubts are often caused by the most insignificant trifles.
The strength of any artist lies in the ability to control, to diminish his lack of mastery.
Speed as it is known, is known in comparisons: when two trains are traveling at equal speed, they both appear to be stationary. In a similar way it is with society: it stands still, if all its members behave like madmen.
To follow a tradition is to cast your votes for the most mysterious party - the party of our ancestors.
Listening to music while eating is an insult to both the cook and the violinist.
The snob insists that only on his head is a real hat; the moralist insists that only under his hat is a true head.
The modern world is not destined to see the future, unless we understand the following: instead of aiming for all things extraordinary and exciting, it is more rational to resort to what is usually regarded as boring.
A modern city is ugly not because it is a city, but because it is a jungle…
The modern critic thinks something like this: “Of course I don't like green cheese. Instead, I really like a beige sherry."
Haste is not good at least in that it takes too much time.
Suffering, with its horror and hopelessness, strongly attracts the young, inexperienced artist, just as a schoolboy draws in his notebooks goblins, skeletons and hangmen.
The tendency towards free love is equivalent to the desire to become a married bachelor or a white African.
Mad is the man who has lost everything except reason.
There is a great difference between the man who wants to read a book and the man who needs a book to read.
Tolerance is the virtue of opinionated people.
What we call "progress" is only the comparative degree of that state for which there is no superlative degree.
Good is that religion on account of which you can joke.
He who wants everything, wants nothing.
The criminal kills man, the suicide - humanity.