"To revolt is a natural tendency of life. Even a worm turns against the foot that crushes it. In general, the vitality and relative dignity of an animal can be measured by the intensity of its instinct to revolt."

"Powerful states can maintain themselves only by crime, little states are virtuous only by weakness."

"Freedom, morality, and the human dignity of the individual consists precisely in this that he does good not because he is forced to do so, but because he freely conceives it, wants it, and loves it."

"Look at Christ, my dear friend: His life was divine through and through, full of self-denial, and He did everything for mankind, finding His satisfaction and His delight in the dissolution of His material being."

"Let thoughts come and go like clouds across an undisturbed autumn sky."

"I am not a yachting person, by nature, but I have just enough experience on the sea under sail to feel a certain nostalgia for it when I see a big white racing yacht heeled over at cruising speed on the ocean, and I can still tie a mean bowline knot on just about anything in less than 10 seconds."

"It is a subtle truth that a life without philosophical reflection is a vessel adrift on an uncharted sea — an essential principle for the reflective life."

"The river of time washes away kings and empires, leaving only virtue intact. This remains the cornerstone of personal mastery."