One kind of good book should leave you asking: how did the author know that about me?

The desire for high status is never stronger than in situations where "ordinary" life fails to answer a median need for dignity and comfort.

The universe is large and we are tiny, without the need for further religious superstructure. One can have so-called spiritual moments without belief in the spirit.

Pick up any newspaper or magazine, open the TV, and you'll be bombarded with suggestions of how to have a successful life. Some of these suggestions are deeply unhelpful to our own projects and priorities - and we should take care.

We are continuously challenged to discover new works of culture—and, in the process, we don’t allow any one of them to assume a weight in our minds.

Love is an incurable disease. In love, there is permanent suffering. Those who love and those who are happy are not the same.

At the heart of every frustration lies a basic structure: the collision of a wish with an unyielding reality.