The only true solution would be a convention under which all the governments would bind themselves to defend collectively any country that was attacked.
I have not the slightest pretension to call my verses poetry; I write now and then for no other purpose than to relieve depression or to improve my English.
To his sister-in-law: What a contrast between us! You live a warm and glowing life, surrounded by loved ones whom you care for and who care for you; you are anchored in contentment. I drift about without rudder or compass, a wreck on the sea of life; I have no memories to cheer me, no pleasant illusions of the future to comfort me, or about me to satisfy my vanity. I have no family to furnish the only kind of survival that concerns us, no friends for the wholesome development of my affections, or enemies for my malice.
For me writing biographies is impossible, unless they are brief and concise, and these are, I feel, the most eloquent.
It is my express wish that in awarding the [Nobel Prizes] no consideration be given to the nationality of the candidates, but that the most worthy shall receive the prize, whether he be Scandinavian or not.
The first time I saw nitroglycerine was in the beginning of the Crimean War. Professor Zinin in St. Petersburg exhibited some to my father and me, and struck some on an anvil to show that only the part touched by the hammer exploded without spreading.
Kant's style is so heavy that after his pure reason, the reader longs for unreasonableness.
The savants will write excellent volumes. There will be laureates. But wars will continue just the same until the forces of the circumstances render them impossible.
A heart can no more be forced to love than a stomach can be forced to digest food by persuasion.
I intend to leave after my death a large fund for the promotion of the peace idea, but I am skeptical as to its results.
Alfred Nobel - pitiable half-creature, should have been stifled by humane doctor when he made his entry yelling into life. Greatest merits: Keeps his nails clean and is never a burden to anyone. Greatest fault: Lacks family, cheerful spirits, and strong stomach. Greatest and only petition: Not to be buried alive. Greatest sin: Does not worship Mammon. Important events in his life: None.
For my part, I wish all guns with their belongings and everything could be sent to hell, which is the proper place for their exhibition and use.
Worry is the stomach's worst poison.
A recluse without books and ink is already in life a dead man.
Good wishes alone will not ensure peace.
Perhaps my dynamite plants will put an end to war sooner than your [pacifist] congresses. On the day two army corps can annihilate each other in one second all civilized nations will recoil from war in horror.
Nature is man's teacher. She unfolds her treasures to his search, unseals his eye, illumes his mind, and purifies his heart; an influence breathes from all the sights and sounds of her existence.
The truthful man is usually a liar.
I am not aware that I have deserved any notoriey, and I have no taste for its buzz.
I am a misanthrope yet utterly benevolent.
I am a misanthrope and yet utterly benevolent, have more than one screw loose yet am a super-idealist who digests philosophy more efficiently than food.
If I have a thousand ideas and only one turns out to be good, I am satisfied.
Lawyers have to make a living, and can only do so by inducing people to believe that a straight line is crooked.
Lying is the greatest of all sins.
Justice is to be found only in the imagination.
My home is where I work, and I work everywhere.
One can state, without exaggeration, that the observation of and the search for similarities and differences are the basis of all human knowledge.
Hope is nature's veil for hiding truth's nakedness.
Second to agriculture, humbug is the biggest industry of our age.
I would not leave anything to a man of action as he would be tempted to give up work; on the other hand, I would like to help dreamers as they find it difficult to get on in life.
My dynamite will sooner lead to peace than a thousand world conventions. As soon as men will find that in one instant, whole armies can be utterly destroyed, they surely will abide by golden peace.
Contentment is the only real wealth.
It is not sufficient to be worthy of respect in order to be respected.
I regard large inherited wealth as a misfortune, which merely serves to dull men's faculties. A man who possesses great wealth should, therefore, allow only a small portion to descend to his relatives. Even if he has children, I consider it a mistake to hand over to them considerable sums of money beyond what is necessary for their education. To do so merely encourages laziness and impedes the healthy development of the individual's capacity to make an independent position for himself.
