Politics, and the fate of mankind, are shaped by men without ideals and without greatness.

We can't do without dominating others or being served... Even the man on the bottom rung still has his wife, or his child. If he's a bachelor, his dog. The essential thing, in sum, is being able to get angry without the other person being able to answer back.

Real generosity toward the future lies in giving all to the present.

There's no need to hang about waiting for the Last Judgement-it takes place every day.

To know oneself, one should assert oneself.

Judging whether life is or is not worth living amounts to answering the fundamental question of philosophy. All the rest-whether or not the world has three dimensions, whether the mind has nine or twelve categories-comes afterward.

We get into the habit of living before acquiring the habit of thinking. In that race which daily hastens us toward death, the body maintains its irreparable lead.

How could sincerity be a condition of friendship? A taste for truth at any cost is a passion which spares nothing.

We call first truths those we discover after all the others.

The slave begins by demanding justice and ends by wanting to wear a crown. He must dominate in his turn.