The value of many men and books rests solely on their faculty for compelling all to speak out the most hidden and intimate things.

It is my ambition to say in ten sentences what other men say in whole books what other men do not say in whole books

A great value of antiquity lies in the fact that its writings are the only ones that modern men still read with exactness.

Ultimately, nobody can get more out of things, including books that he already knows. For what one lacks access to from experience one will have no ear.

We set no special value on the possession of a virtue until we percieve that it is entirely lacking in our adversary.

Books for general reading always smell bad; the odor of common people hangs about them.