We believe at once in evil, we only believe in good upon reflection. Is this not sad?.

We believe at once in evil, we only believe in good upon reflection. Is this not sad?.

You think that a wall as solid as the earth separates civilization from barbarism. I tell you the division is read more

You think that a wall as solid as the earth separates civilization from barbarism. I tell you the division is a thread, a sheet of glass. A touch here, a push there, and you bring back the reign of Saturn.

Religion is not a matter of God, church, holy cause, etc. These are but accessories. The source of religious preoccupation read more

Religion is not a matter of God, church, holy cause, etc. These are but accessories. The source of religious preoccupation is in the self, or rather the rejection of the self. Dedication is the obverse side of self-rejection. Man alone is a religious animal because, as Montaigne points out, "it is a malady confined to man, and not seen in any other creature, to hate and despise ourselves.".

The Universe has as many different centers as there are living beings in it.

The Universe has as many different centers as there are living beings in it.

Civilization is unbearable, but it is less unbearable at the top.

Civilization is unbearable, but it is less unbearable at the top.

The sort of dependence that results from exchange, i.e., from commercial transactions, is a reciprocal dependence. We cannot be dependent read more

The sort of dependence that results from exchange, i.e., from commercial transactions, is a reciprocal dependence. We cannot be dependent upon a foreigner without his being dependent on us. Now, this is what constitutes the very essence of society. To sever natural interrelations is not to make oneself independent, but to isolate oneself completely.

I find it valid to understand man as an animal before I am prepared to know him as a man.

I find it valid to understand man as an animal before I am prepared to know him as a man.

The truth seems to be that propaganda on its own cannot force its way into unwilling minds; neither can it read more

The truth seems to be that propaganda on its own cannot force its way into unwilling minds; neither can it inculcate something wholly new; nor can it keep people persuaded once they have ceased to believe. It penetrates into minds already open, and rather than instill opinion it articulates and justifies opinions already present in the minds of its recipients.

The supreme irony of life is that no one gets out of it alive.

The supreme irony of life is that no one gets out of it alive.