The natural inclination of a child is to take pleasure in the use of the mind no less than of read more

The natural inclination of a child is to take pleasure in the use of the mind no less than of the body. The child's primary business is learning. It is also the primary entertainment. To retain that orientation into adulthood, so that consciousness is not a burden but a joy, is the mark of the successfully developed human being.

Do not spoil what you have by desiring what you have not; remember that what you now have was once read more

Do not spoil what you have by desiring what you have not; remember that what you now have was once among the things you only hoped for.

Thinking to get at once all the gold the Goose could give, he killed it and opened it only to read more

Thinking to get at once all the gold the Goose could give, he killed it and opened it only to find,- nothing.

The less satisfaction we derive from being ourselves, the greater is our desire to be like others.

The less satisfaction we derive from being ourselves, the greater is our desire to be like others.

...aesthetic values are changed under the influence of sexual emotion; from the lover's point of view many things are beautiful read more

...aesthetic values are changed under the influence of sexual emotion; from the lover's point of view many things are beautiful which are unbeautiful from the point of view of him who is not a lover, and the greater the degree to which the lover is swayed by his passion the greater the extent to which his normal aesthetic standard is liable to be modified.

Commitment becomes hysterical when those who have nothing to give advocate generosity, and those who have nothing to give up read more

Commitment becomes hysterical when those who have nothing to give advocate generosity, and those who have nothing to give up preach renunciation.

As for myself, I always willingly acknowledge my own self as the principal cause of every good and of every read more

As for myself, I always willingly acknowledge my own self as the principal cause of every good and of every evil which may befall me; therefore I have always found myself capable of being my own pupil, and ready to love my teacher.

When scientific doctrines are mixed up with religious tenets, the same lifeless dogmatism will commonly benumb them both.

When scientific doctrines are mixed up with religious tenets, the same lifeless dogmatism will commonly benumb them both.

There is no other way to judge the work of a mind except through its words.

There is no other way to judge the work of a mind except through its words.