It needs some intelligence to be truly selfish. The unintelligent can only be self-righteous.

It needs some intelligence to be truly selfish. The unintelligent can only be self-righteous.

To know a person's religion we need not listen to his profession of faith but must find his brand of read more

To know a person's religion we need not listen to his profession of faith but must find his brand of intolerance.

The human understanding, from its peculiar nature, easily supposes a greater degree of order and regularity in things than it read more

The human understanding, from its peculiar nature, easily supposes a greater degree of order and regularity in things than it really finds.

The burning conviction that we have a holy duty towards others is often a way of attaching our drowning selves read more

The burning conviction that we have a holy duty towards others is often a way of attaching our drowning selves to a passing raft. What looks like a giving hand is often a holding on for dear life. Take away our holy duties and you leave our lives puny and meaningless. There is no doubt that in exchanging a self-centered for a selfless life we gain enormously in self-esteem. The vanity of the selfless, even those who practice utmost humility, is boundless.

My enemy is not the man who wrongs me, but the man who means to wrong me.

My enemy is not the man who wrongs me, but the man who means to wrong me.

The prerequisite of originality is the art of forgetting, at the proper moment, what we know.

The prerequisite of originality is the art of forgetting, at the proper moment, what we know.

Conscience is the inner voice which warns us that someone may be looking.

Conscience is the inner voice which warns us that someone may be looking.

All weakness tends to corrupt, and impotence corrupts absolutely.

All weakness tends to corrupt, and impotence corrupts absolutely.

Laughter to begin with was probably glee at the misfortunes of others. The baring of the teeth in laughter hints read more

Laughter to begin with was probably glee at the misfortunes of others. The baring of the teeth in laughter hints at its savage ancestry. Animals have no malice, hence also no laughter. They never savor the sudden glory of Schadenfreude. It was its infectious quality that made of laughter a medium of mutuality.