One can build the Empire State Building, discipline the Prussian army, make a state hierarchy mightier than God, yet fail to overcome the unaccountable superiority of certain human beings.

If there were no executioners, there would be no executions.

An engineer cannot participate in irrationality.

Freedom or prison--what's the difference? A man must develop unwavering will power subject only to his reason.

It is within the power of writers and artists to do much more: to defeat the lie!

How quickly a zek (a prisoner) gets cheeky-or, putting it in literary language, how quickly a man's requirements grow.

The term "national idea" is an unclear one. One might think of it as a widely shared understanding among a people as to the desired way of life in their country, an idea that holds sway over the population. A unifying concept like that can be useful, but should never be created artificially or imposed top-down by the powers-that-be.