My formula for greatness in a human being is amor fati: that one wants nothing to be different, not forward, not backward, not in all eternity. Not merely bear what is necessary, still less conceal it-all idealism is mendaciousness in the face of what is necessary-but love it.

All the historic precedents, the soaring graphs, the staggering statistics - these measure size more than substance. And the largeness and greatness of our nation would be almost a mockery - without a matching greatness of heart and largeness of vision as we look out upon the world.

Man is a rope, tied between beast and overman - a rope over an abyss. What is great in man is that he is a bridge and not an end: what can be loved in man is that he is an overture and a going under.

As I get older, I get smaller. I see other parts of the world I didn't see before. Other points of view. I see outside myself more.

The greatness of a nation can be judged by the way its animals are treated.

Our greatest ability as humans is not to change the world; but to change ourselves.