"The miller believes that all the wheat..." - Quote by Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe

“I don't know a greater advantage, than to appreciate the worth of an enemy.”

“The words you've bandied are sufficient;'Tis deeds that I prefer to see.[Ger., Der Worte sind genug gewechselt,Lasst mich auch endlich Thaten sehn.]”

“Mysterious in the light of day, nature retains her veil, despite our clamours: That which she does not willingly display cannot be wrenched from her with levers, screws and hammers.”

“If we were not all so interested in ourselves, life would be so uninteresting that none of us would be able to endure it.”

“I do not like an injurious lie, except when it injures somebody else.”

“A small knowledge of human nature will convince us, that, with far the greatest part of mankind, interest is the governing principle... Few men are capable of making a continual sacrifice of all views of private interest, or advantage, to the common good. It is vain to exclaim against the depravity of human nature on this account; the fact is so, the experience of every age and nation has proved it and we must in a great measure, change the constitution of man, before we can make it otherwise. No institution, not built on the presumptive truth of these maxims can succeed.”

“We are anthill men upon an anthill world.”

“What is amusing now had to be taken in desperate earnest once.”

“It is only in the microscope that our life looks so big. It is an indivisible point, drawn out and magnified by the powerful lenses of Time and Space.”