Know thyself! A maxim as pernicious as it is ugly. Whoever observes himself arrests his own development. A caterpillar who wanted to know itself well would never become a butterfly. – Andre Gide
Great authors are admirable in this respect: in every generation they make for disagreement. Through them we become aware of our differences. – Andre Gide
It is better to be hated for what you are than to be loved for something you are not. – Andre Gide
There are very few monsters who warrant the fear we have of them. – Andre Gide
And to my thinking as a lover of life, butterflies, soap-bubbles, and whatever is of their kind among men, know most of happiness. To see these light, foolish, delicate, mobile little souls flitting about—that moveth Zarathustra to tears and to song. – Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900), “Of Reading and Writing,” Thus Spake Zarathus