"Because we think well of ourselves, but nonetheless never suppose ourselves capable of producing a painting like one of Raphael’s... we call it 'genius'."

— Nietzsche argues that we use the word 'genius' as a shield. By labeling someone as naturally gifted, we excuse our own lack of effort. If they are born that way, we don't have to compete. It's a clever defense for laziness.

"Humility in a person of talent is a mere hypocrisy... a trick by which he hopes to be praised twice over."

— Schopenhauer unmasks the social performance. Humility is often just a sophisticated way of fishing for more compliments. It's the ultimate 'Aesthetic' of the ego.

"The Will to Live is not a choice, but a primal force that persists even in the face of suffering."

— A reflection on the body's refusal to surrender. Even when the mind finds life absurd, the 'Will' continues to struggle. It is the most honest part of our humanity.

"If you truly love nature, you will find beauty everywhere."

— Vincent van Gogh

"The limits of my language mean the limits of my world."

— Ludwig Wittgenstein

"Taste classifies, and it classifies the classifier."

— Pierre Bourdieu

"We are a way for the cosmos to know itself."

— Carl Sagan

"The eye that sees is all-important."

— Franz Boas

"specialists without spirit, sensualists without heart; this nullity imagines that it has attained a level of civilization never before achieved."

— Max Weber

"It is difficult to find happiness within oneself, but it is impossible to find it anywhere else."

— Arthur Schopenhauer