Implicit in the activist conception of government is the assumption that you can take the good things in a complex read more

Implicit in the activist conception of government is the assumption that you can take the good things in a complex system for granted, and just improve the things that are not so good. What is lacking in this conception is any sense that a society, an institution, or even a single human being, is an intricate system of fragile inter-relationships, whose complexities are little understood and easily destabilized.

Every man is as Heaven made him, and sometimes a great deal worse.

Every man is as Heaven made him, and sometimes a great deal worse.

There is only one step from fanaticism to barbarism.

There is only one step from fanaticism to barbarism.

Our minds can work for us or against us at any given moment. We can learn to accept and live read more

Our minds can work for us or against us at any given moment. We can learn to accept and live with the natural psychological laws that govern us, understanding how to flow with life rather than struggle against it. We can return to our natural state of contentment.

My problem lies in reconciling my gross habits with my net income.

My problem lies in reconciling my gross habits with my net income.

What are we when we are alone? Some, when they are alone, cease to exist.

What are we when we are alone? Some, when they are alone, cease to exist.

Men never do evil so fully and so happily as when they do it for conscience's sake.

Men never do evil so fully and so happily as when they do it for conscience's sake.

There is no excellent beauty that hath not some strangeness in the proportion.

There is no excellent beauty that hath not some strangeness in the proportion.

The primary sign of a well-ordered mind is a man's ability to remain in one place and linger in his read more

The primary sign of a well-ordered mind is a man's ability to remain in one place and linger in his own company.