Any man who inflicts the human race with ideas must be prepared to see them misunderstood.

Any man who inflicts the human race with ideas must be prepared to see them misunderstood.

From the saintly and single-minded idealist to the fanatic is often but a step.

From the saintly and single-minded idealist to the fanatic is often but a step.

Of all the judgments we pass in life, none is more important than the judgment we pass on ourselves.

Of all the judgments we pass in life, none is more important than the judgment we pass on ourselves.

A dream is a scripture, and many scriptures are nothing but dreams.

A dream is a scripture, and many scriptures are nothing but dreams.

Society cannot contribute anything to the breeding and growing of ingenious men. A creative genius cannot be trained. There are read more

Society cannot contribute anything to the breeding and growing of ingenious men. A creative genius cannot be trained. There are no schools for creativeness. A genius is precisely a man who defies all schools and rules, who deviates from the traditional roads of routine and opens up new paths through land inaccessible before. A genius is always a teacher, never a pupil; he is always self-made.

Human reason can neither predict nor deliberately shape its own future. Its advances consist in finding out where it has read more

Human reason can neither predict nor deliberately shape its own future. Its advances consist in finding out where it has been wrong.

Nature attains perfection, but man never does. There is a perfect ant, a perfect bee, but man is perpetually unfinished. read more

Nature attains perfection, but man never does. There is a perfect ant, a perfect bee, but man is perpetually unfinished. He is both an unfinished animal and an unfinished man. It is this incurable unfinishedness which sets man apart from other living things. For, in the attempt to finish himself, man becomes a creator. Moreover, the incurable unfinishedness keeps man perpetually immature, perpetually capable of learning and growing.

The first thing a man will do for his ideals is lie.

The first thing a man will do for his ideals is lie.

Wise living consists perhaps less in acquiring good habits than in acquiring as few habits as possible.

Wise living consists perhaps less in acquiring good habits than in acquiring as few habits as possible.