“If you wished to be loved, love.”

“Love in its essence is spiritual fire.”

“A gem cannot be polished without friction, nor a man perfected without trials.”

“A happy life is one which is in accordance with its own nature.”

“For greed all nature is too little.”

“All art is but imitation of nature.”

“There are no facts, only interpretations.”

“My story is of such marvel that if it were written with a needle on the corner of an eye, it would yet serve as a lesson to those who seek wisdom.”

“There are 1,198,500,000 people alive now in China. To get a feel for what that means, simply take yourself - in all your singularity, importance, complexity, and love - and multiply by 1,198,500,00...”

“Victory settles a lot of arguments in most men's heads.”

“To obtain victory by any means and with any weapon.”

“When you're in a weak position, getting the best deal possible is a victory.”

“I am older than you. Believe me, there is no other way to live on earth. Men are not open to truth or reason. They cannot be reached by a rational argument. The mind is powerless against them. Yet ...”

“The relationship between truth and reason:"Truth cannot be reached by reason alone!”

“I writeNotFor the sake of gloryNot For the sake of fameNotFor the sake of successBut for the sake of my soul”