A human being has so many skins inside, covering the depths of the heart. We know so many things, but read more

A human being has so many skins inside, covering the depths of the heart. We know so many things, but we don't know ourselves! Why, thirty or forty skins or hides, as thick and hard as an ox's or bear's, cover the soul. Go into your own ground and learn to know yourself there.

The most thoroughly and relentlessly Damned, banned, excluded, condemned, forbidden, ostracized, ignore, suppressed, repressed, robbed, brutalized and defamed of all read more

The most thoroughly and relentlessly Damned, banned, excluded, condemned, forbidden, ostracized, ignore, suppressed, repressed, robbed, brutalized and defamed of all Damned Things is the individual human being. The social engineers, statistician, psychologist, sociologists, market researchers, landlords, bureaucrats, captains of industry, bankers, governors, commissars, kings and presidents are perpetually forcing this Damned Thing into carefully prepared blueprints and perpetually irritated that the Damned Thing will not fit into the slot assigned it. The theologians call it a sinner and try to reform it. The governor calls it a criminal and tries to punish it. the psychologist calls it a neurotic and tries to cure it. Still, the Damned Thing will not fit into their slots.

When one is in love, one always begins by deceiving one's self, and one always ends by deceiving others. That read more

When one is in love, one always begins by deceiving one's self, and one always ends by deceiving others. That is what world calls a romance.

Everything that irritates us about others can lead us to an understanding of ourselves.

Everything that irritates us about others can lead us to an understanding of ourselves.

I don't at all like knowing what people say of me behind my back. It makes me far too conceited.

I don't at all like knowing what people say of me behind my back. It makes me far too conceited.

Every fact of science was once Damned. Every invention was considered impossible. Every discovery was a nervous shock to some read more

Every fact of science was once Damned. Every invention was considered impossible. Every discovery was a nervous shock to some orthodoxy. Every artistic innovation was denounced as fraud and folly. The entire web of culture and "progress," everything on earth that is man-made and not given to us by nature, is the concrete manifestation of some man's refusal to bow to Authority. We would own no more, know no more, and be no more than the first apelike hominids if it were not for the rebellious, the recalcitrant, and the intransigent. As Oscar Wilde truly said, "Disobedience was man's Original Virtue."

I am, indeed, a king, because I know how to rule myself.

I am, indeed, a king, because I know how to rule myself.

Confront the dark parts of yourself, and work to banish them with illumination and forgiveness. Your willingness to wrestle with read more

Confront the dark parts of yourself, and work to banish them with illumination and forgiveness. Your willingness to wrestle with your demons will cause your angels to sing. Use the pain as fuel, as a reminder of your strength.

The final mystery is oneself.

The final mystery is oneself.