We find it easy to believe that praise is sincere: why should anyone lie in telling us the truth?

There are moments when very little truth would be enough to shape opinion. One might be hated at extremely low cost.

One must credit an hypothesis with all that has had to be discovered in order to demolish it.

Theories pass. The frog remains.

The biologist passes. The frog stays the same.

Being right is less important to us than the freedom to be wrong.

Kill a man, and you are a murderer. Kill millions of men, and you are a conquerer. Kill everyone, and you are a god.

God, that checkroom of our dreams.

Falsity cannot keep an idea from being beautiful; there are certain errors of such ingenuity that one could regret their not ranking among the achievements of the human mind.

Greatness, in order to gain recognition, must all too often consent to ape greatness.

What makes our opponents useful is that they allow us to believe that without them we would be able to realize our goals.

I think I am one of those who can manage not to take on a completely different appearance under their own glance.

Take heed of critics even when they are not fair; resist them even when they are.

One must either take an interest in the human situation or else parade before the void.

On tue un homme, on est un assassin. On tue des millions d'hommes, on est un conquérant. On les tue tous, on est un dieu.

Kill a man, and you are a murderer. Kill millions of men and you are a conqueror. Kill everyone, and you are a god.

God, that dumping ground of our dreams.

It is sometimes well for a blatant error to draw attention to overmodest truths.

A married couple are well suited when both partners usually feel the need for a quarrel at the same time.

Far too often the choices reality proposes are such as to take away one's taste for choosing.

In politics, yesterday's lie is attacked only to flatter today's.