Often the best in us springs from the worst in us. Reflections on Literature and Morality

The first forty years of life furnish the text, while the remaining thirty supply the commentary. Counsels and Maxims

Men who neglect philosophy while busying themselves with ordinary affairs are like the Suitors [in the Odyssey] who desired Penelope but went to bed with her maids. Gorgias

Once it's been proved to you that you're descended from an ape, it's no use pulling a face; just accept it. Once they've proved to you that a single droplet of your own fat must be dearer to you than a hundred thousand of your fellow human beings and consequently that all so-called virtues and duties are nothing but ravings and prejudices, then accept that too, because there's nothing to be done. Notes from Underground