In the alchemy of man's soul almost all noble attributes- courage, honor, love, hope, faith, duty, loyalty, and so on- can be transmuted into ruthlessness. Compassion alone stands apart from the continuous traffic between good and evil proceeding within us. Compassion is the antitoxin of the soul: where there is compassion, even the most poisonous impulses remain relatively harmless.
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Throw moderation to the winds, and the greatest pleasures bring the greatest pains.
Throw moderation to the winds, and the greatest pleasures bring the greatest pains.
Most people would find it bizarre to speak of tolerating blonds. For whatever reason, hair color has not been a read more
Most people would find it bizarre to speak of tolerating blonds. For whatever reason, hair color has not been a basis of tribal identity or group politics in our culture; the concept of tolerance is never invoked in this context because there is too obviously nothing to tolerate. In a rational culture, the same would be true of race, ethnicity, and the like.
It has often been said that power corrupts. But it is perhaps equally important to realize that weakness, too, corrupts. read more
It has often been said that power corrupts. But it is perhaps equally important to realize that weakness, too, corrupts. Power corrupts the few, while weakness corrupts the many. Hatred, malice, rudeness, intolerance, and suspicion are the faults of weakness. The resentment of the weak does not spring from any injustice done to them but from their sense of inadequacy and impotence. We cannot win the weak by sharing our wealth with them. They feel our generosity as oppression.
Where all think alike, no one thinks very much.
Where all think alike, no one thinks very much.
A wonderful discovery--psychoanalysis. Makes quite simple people feel they're complex.
A wonderful discovery--psychoanalysis. Makes quite simple people feel they're complex.
To the fool, he who speaks wisdom will sound foolish.
To the fool, he who speaks wisdom will sound foolish.
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.
The end comes when we no longer talk with ourselves. It is the end of genuine thinking and the beginning read more
The end comes when we no longer talk with ourselves. It is the end of genuine thinking and the beginning of the final loneliness.The remarkable thing is that the cessation of the inner dialogue marks also the end of our concern with the world around us. It is as if we noted the world and think about it only when we have to report it to ourselves.
A man without force, is without the essential dignity of humanity. Human nature is so constituted, that it cannot honor read more
A man without force, is without the essential dignity of humanity. Human nature is so constituted, that it cannot honor a helpless man, although it can pity him.
