The man who withdraws from other people deprives himself of happiness, because the more he withdraws, the worse his life becomes.
The man who has stopped drinking and smoking attains that mental clarity and tranquility of view which puts in a new and correct light all the phenomena of life.
The more we love, the bigger, fuller and happier our lives become.
The better man is, the less he fears death.
To believe in good, we must begin to do it.
Family selfishness is crueler than personal selfishness. The man who would be ashamed to sacrifice the goods of others only for himself, considers it his duty to use the misfortunes and troubles of men for the good of his family.
Aesthetics and ethics are two arms of a lever: the longer and lighter one side, the shorter and heavier the other. Once man loses his moral sense, he becomes especially sensitive to aesthetics.
Language is the weapon of thought.
The whole pathos of freedom has not the slightest meaning, if man has not something holy before which he worships.
In every heroic deed, in every act of sacrifice there persists that conscious or unconscious belief in some sense of life after death, which transcends the limits of personal existence. By this heroic deed, we declare that it is not worth living for comfort, happiness, personal selfishness, and that the meaning of life for each of us is not found in the passing affairs of the world.
Our whole life consists of the pursuit of goals. From the beginning to the end they present themselves in the form of a hierarchy of objectives, some of which are subordinated to others in the form of means. There are desirable goals in themselves, but also for everything else: for example, we have to work to eat and drink. Although there is also such a goal that is desired in itself. Each of us has a dear thing, for which we live. Anyone who considers, consciously or unconsciously, such a goal or value is certainly worth living for. This goal or meaning of life, which is one and the same, is a firm start, necessarily connected with life as such, and this is why no failure can stop mankind from seeking this meaning.
Burn only what is transient. Only that which rests on an unshakeable eternal and spiritual foundation can stand against universal destruction and conflagration.
The Russian liberation movement is characterized by the fact that it values equality more than freedom itself. It is ready to prefer slavery to partial liberation: between the universal equality of slavery and the universal equality of freedom it sees no middle way. She can only think in general concepts.
There are two types of democracy, two opposite meanings of democracy. Of these, one upholds the sovereignty of the people by right of force; from this point of view, the people are not limited in their rule by any moral principles: unlimited power should belong to the people, because the people are the power. This conception of democracy is not compatible with freedom: from the point of view of the law of force, there cannot be any kind of inviolable, clear rights of the individual. Another conception of democracy is based on the sovereignty of the people, firm moral principles and, above all, the recognition of human merit, the absolute value of the human personality as such. Only through such an understanding of democracy does the question of freedom stand on a solid foundation.
In oligarchies, the thirst for material wealth is transmitted from the rich and infects the poor. The struggle for goods sparks the struggle for power. And oligarchy dies, turning into democracy through greedy thirst for wealth, which in oligarchy is considered the most precious thing.
The cemetery is the classic expression of the universality, equality and mystery of death, the destiny of each of us.
An essential characteristic of national messianism is the national exclusivity of religious consciousness. In one way or another, Russian messianism expresses itself in the affirmation of a Russian Christ or in a more or less refined Russification of the Gospel.
Man sacrifices himself only when he believes that there is something great, immortal, that will survive him.
Marriage based on mutual affection and reason is one of the greatest blessings of human life.
In the days of doubt, in the days of painful reflections about the fate of my homeland - only you are my support and support, oh, great, strong, sincere and free Russian language!... it is impossible not to believe that such of language was not given to a great people!
Any love is as happy as it is unhappy, it's a true catastrophe when you dedicate yourself to it completely.
Every prayer boils down to the following: "Oh, almighty God, let two times two not make four."
Still don't know if you have talent or not? Give it time to mature; and if it does not manifest itself, does man need poetic talent to live and act?
Yes, with great justice someone has expressed himself about suicides: as long as they do not carry out their intentions, no one believes them; and if they do, no one feels sorry for them.
The imposed good is not a good.
The ancient Greeks did not say for nothing that the last and greatest gift given to man by the gods is a sense of temperance.
If the best moments of life disappeared with youth, then the other ages of human life would be so unbearable that any individual would cut his throat at 32. Much rubbish floats on the noisy waves of youth; but, nevertheless, there is nothing more wonderful than these waves.
If we waited for the moment when everything, absolutely everything, would be ready, we would never have to start anything again.
If the aspiration comes from a pure source, it, even if it has not been entirely successful and has not reached its goal, can still be of great benefit.
There are three categories of egoists: the egoists who live for themselves and allow others to live; egoists who live for themselves and do not allow others to live; and finally, the egoists who neither live themselves nor allow others to live.