It might be a basic characteristic of existence that those who would know it completely would perish, in which case the strength of spirit should be measured according to how much of the "truth" one could still barely endure--or to put it more clearly, to what degree one would require it to be thinned down, shrouded, sweetened, blunted, falsified. Beyond Good and Evil
There is no feeling so simple that it is not immediately complicated and distorted by introspection. Reflections on Literature and Morality
The greatest products of architecture are less the works of individuals than of society; rather the offspring of a nation's effort, than the inspired flash of a man of genius. The Hunchback of Notre Dame
True glory strikes root, and even extends itself; all false pretensions fall as do flowers, nor can anything feigned be lasting. On Duties
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