You were given life; it is your duty (and also your entitlement as a human being) to find something beautiful within life, no matter how slight.

A man should hear a little music, read a little poetry, and see a fine picture every day of his life, in order that worldly cares may not obliterate the sense of the beautiful which God has implanted in the human soul. Johann

The world is a dangerous place to live, not because of the people who are evil, but because of the people who don’t do anything about it.

I believe in one thing, that only a life lived for others is a life worth living.

Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving.

Sometimes the only thought that sustains me and is my only refuge from despair is that I have always done everything I could within my small power, and that year in, year out, I have never permitted myself any amusements or diversions except those afforded by my studies.

Death is a reality… Life ends definitely when the subject, by his actions, no longer affects his environment… He can no longer add an iota to the sum total of his experience

Live with purpose. Don’t let people or things around you get you down.

Human beings can attain a worthy and harmonious life only if they are able to rid themselves, within the limits of human nature, of striving to fulfill wishes of the material kind.

I just read a wonderful paper by Lenard on the generation of cathode rays by ultraviolet light. Under the influence of this beautiful piece, I am filled with such happiness and joy that I absolutely must share some of it with you.

The satisfaction of physical needs is indeed the indispensable precondition of a satisfactory existence, but in itself it is not enough. In order to be content, men must also have the possibility of developing their intellectual and artistic powers to whatever extent accords with their personal characteristics and abilities.

What depressed me most is, of course, the misfortune of my poor parents who have not had a happy moment for so many years. What further hurts deeply is that as an adult man, I have to look on without being able to do anything.

May they not forget to keep pure the great heritage that puts them ahead of the West: the artistic configuration of life, the simplicity and modesty of personal needs, and the purity and serenity of the Japanese soul.

One of the strongest motives that lead men to art and science is escape from everyday life with its painful crudity and hopeless dreariness, from the fetters of one’s own ever-shifting desires. A finely tempered nature longs to escape from the personal life into the world of objective perception and thought.

I am happy at the thought that the worst worries are over for my parents.

I am satisfied with the mystery of the eternity of life and with the awareness and a glimpse of the marvelous structure of the existing world, together with the devoted striving to comprehend a portion, be it ever so tiny, of the Reason that manifest itself in nature.

People like you and I, though mortal of course, like everyone else, do not grow old no matter how long we live. What I mean is that we never cease to stand like curious children before the great mystery into which we were born.

I believe that whatever we do or live for has its causality; it is good, however, that we cannot see through to it.

I am glad that you have given me the opportunity of expressing to you here my deep sense of gratitude as a man, as a good European, and as a Jew.

Taking joy in living is a woman’s best cosmetic.

I am strongly drawn to a frugal life and am often oppressively aware that I am engrossing an undue amount of the labor of my fellow-men.

This life is not such that we ought to complain when it comes to an end for us or for a loved one; rather, we may look back in satisfaction when it has been bravely and honorably withstood.

For lack of attention a thousand forms of loveliness elude us every day.

Waking up this morning, I smile. Twenty-four brand new hours are before me. I vow to live fully in each moment and to look at all beings with eyes of compassion.