"I know myself, and I have such a sense of religion that I shall never do anything which I would not do before the whole world; but I am alarmed at the very thoughts of being in the society of people, …"

"Constanze is not ugly, but anything but beautiful; all her beauty consists of two little black eyes and a handsome figure."

"It is, of course, a money marriage, nothing more. I wouldn't want to enter into this kind of marriage. I wish to make my wife happy and not make my happiness through her."

"A man of mediocre talents always remains mediocre, may he travel or not--but a man of superior talents, which I cannot deny myself to have without being blasphemous, becomes--bad, if he always stays i…"

"What is life? It is a fleeting joy, a sorrow soon past."