If you pray hard enough, water will run uphill. How hard? Why, hard enough to make water run uphill, of read more

If you pray hard enough, water will run uphill. How hard? Why, hard enough to make water run uphill, of course!

All rising to great place is by winding stair.

All rising to great place is by winding stair.

Nonconformists travel as a rule in bunches. You rarely find a nonconformist who goes it alone. And woe to him read more

Nonconformists travel as a rule in bunches. You rarely find a nonconformist who goes it alone. And woe to him inside a nonconformist clique who does not conform with nonconformity.

The meaning of life is not to be discovered only after death in some hidden, mysterious realm; on the contrary, read more

The meaning of life is not to be discovered only after death in some hidden, mysterious realm; on the contrary, it can be found by eating the succulent fruit of the Tree of Life and by living in the here and now as fully and creatively as we can.

The rule seems to be that those who find no difficulty in deceiving themselves are easily deceived by others. They read more

The rule seems to be that those who find no difficulty in deceiving themselves are easily deceived by others. They are easily persuaded and led.

The ideal of self-advancement which the civilizing west offers to backward populations brings with it the plague of individual frustration. read more

The ideal of self-advancement which the civilizing west offers to backward populations brings with it the plague of individual frustration. All the advantages brought by the West are ineffectual substitutes for the sheltering and soothing anonymity of communal existence.

Eagles soar, but weasels never get sucked into jet engines.

Eagles soar, but weasels never get sucked into jet engines.

The noisy and extensive scene of crowds without company, and
dissipation without pleasure.

The noisy and extensive scene of crowds without company, and
dissipation without pleasure.

The human race, to which so many of my readers belong, has been playing at children's games from the beginning, read more

The human race, to which so many of my readers belong, has been playing at children's games from the beginning, and will probably do it till the end, which is a nuisance for the few people who grow up. And one of the games to which it is most attached is called, ''Keep tomorrow dark,'' and which is also named (by the rustics in Shropshire, I have no doubt) ''Cheat the Prophet.'' The players listen very carefully and respectfully to all that the clever men have to say about what is to happen in the next generation. The players then wait until all the clever men are dead, and bury them nicely. Then they go and do something else. That is all. For a race of simple tastes, however, it is great fun.