“He was prepared to joke with them, to tell them stories from his journeyman years, and in turn to listen to their stories, anything just so as to keep them awake, to be able to show them again and again that he had nothing edible in the cage, and that he starved in a way that not one of them could.” A Hunger Artist
It was not only that I could not become spiteful, I did not know how to become anything; neither spiteful nor kind, neither a rascal nor an honest man, neither a hero nor an insect. Now, I am living out my life in my corner, taunting myself with the spiteful and useless consolation that an intelligent man cannot become anything seriously, and it is only the fool who becomes anything. Notes from Underground
The secret sauce is in the solving of the problems, not in not having problems in the first place. The Subtle Art Of Not Giving A F*Ck
Abundance, even of good things, prevents them from being valued; and scarcity, even in the case of what is bad, confers a certain value. Don Quixote
Quotes