An empty head is not really empty; it is stuffed with rubbish. Hence the difficulty of forcing anything in to read more

An empty head is not really empty; it is stuffed with rubbish. Hence the difficulty of forcing anything in to an empty head.

A large part of the popularity and persuasiveness of psychology comes from its being a sublimated spiritualism: a secular, ostensibly read more

A large part of the popularity and persuasiveness of psychology comes from its being a sublimated spiritualism: a secular, ostensibly scientific way of affirming the primacy of "spirit" over matter.

Passionate hatred can give meaning and purpose to an empty life. Thus people haunted by the purposelessness of their lives read more

Passionate hatred can give meaning and purpose to an empty life. Thus people haunted by the purposelessness of their lives try to find a new content not only by dedicating themselves to a holy cause but also by nursing a fanatical grievance. A mass movement offers them unlimited opportunities for both.

We probably have a greater love for those we support than for those who support us. Our vanity carries greater read more

We probably have a greater love for those we support than for those who support us. Our vanity carries greater weight than our self-interest.

We shall assume that what each man does is based not on direct and certain knowledge, but by pictures made read more

We shall assume that what each man does is based not on direct and certain knowledge, but by pictures made by himself or given to him. If his atlas tells him the world is flat he will not sail near what he believes to be the edge of our planet for fear of falling off. If his maps include a fountain of eternal youth, a Ponce de Leon will go off in quest of it. If someone digs up yellow dirt that looks like gold, he will for a time act exactly as if he has found gold. The way in which the world is imagined determines at any particular moment what men will do. It does not determine what they will achieve. It determines their effort, their feelings, their hopes, not their accomplishments and results.

It is not love of self but hatred of self which is at the root of the troubles that afflict read more

It is not love of self but hatred of self which is at the root of the troubles that afflict our world.

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.

...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.

Irony is the hygiene of the mind.

Irony is the hygiene of the mind.