“Man only plays when in the full meaning of the word he is a man, and he is only completely a man when he plays.”

“Man is fulfilled only when he ceases to be man.”

“But there is only one thing that has power completely, and this is love. Because when a man loves, he seeks no power, and therefore he has power.”

“Cosimo: It is only a play… with music? Does God say the same at every death? It is only a play… with music? When I die, will someone say the same? He was only a prince. He died. It was only a play… with music.”

“For the happy man prayer is only a jumble of words, until the day when sorrow comes to explain to him the sublime language by means of which he speaks to God.”

“These days a passion to accumulate knowledge of any and every kind consumed him; but only as a means to an end. He must know all things, for only so might he have, when situations arose in the future, a full pack of cards to play from.”

“First, what do we mean by anguish? The existentialist frankly states that man is in anguish. His meaning is as follows-When a man commits himself to anything, fully realizing that he is not only choosing what he will be, but is thereby at the same time a legislator deciding for the whole of mankind-in such a moment a man cannot escape from the sense of complete and profound responsibility.”

“He was gazing at her, the way one did when one felt one was unobserved. He had that look on his face, the look he usually got only when he was playing the violin, as if he were completely caught up and entranced.”

“When he worked, he really worked. But when he played, he really PLAYED.”

“Man is not a rational animal. He is only truly good or great when he acts from passion.”