“A work is perfectly finished only when nothing can be added to it and nothing taken away.”

“Without ambition one starts nothing. Without work one finishes nothing. The prize will not be sent to you. You have to win it.”

“The way is infinitely long, nothing of it can be subtracted, nothing can be added, and yet everyone applies his own childish yardstick to it.”

“… nothing ever happens quickly (except when it does). Nothing is ever, ever easy (except when it is). And, most of all, nothing ever goes perfectly according to plan (except in the movies).”

“There is nothing perfectly true for man; I mean in human opinions. Just like there is nothing perfectly round.”

“There is absolutely nothing that can be taken for granted in this world.”

“This is the charged, the dangerous moment, when everything must be re-examined, must be made new, when nothing at all can be taken for granted.”

“One always dies too soon — or too late. And yet, life is there, finished: the line is drawn, and it must all be added up. You are nothing other than your life.”

“Nothing that has been thought can ever be taken back.”

“In the finished article, the only thing that is important is whether it moves you or not. There is nothing else that is important at all.”