Do not think that what is hard for you to master is humanly impossible; but if a thing is humanly possible, consider it to be within your reach. Book VI

„One thing, however, did become clear to him [Goldmund] – why so many perfect works of art did not please him at all, why they were almost hateful and boring to him, in spite of a certain undeniable beauty. Workshops, churches, and palaces were full of these fatal works of art; he had even helped with a few himself. They were deeply disappointing because they aroused the desire for the highest and did not fulfill it. They lacked the most essential thing – mystery. That was what dreams and truly great works of art had in common: mystery.“ Narcissus and Goldmund

The vine bears three bunches of grapes: the first is that of pleasure, the second of drunkenness, the third of violence. Fragment

The only thing that sustains one through life is the consciousness of the immense inferiority of everybody else, and this is a feeling that I have always cultivated. The Remarkable Rocket