It is widely believed that interpersonal relationships of an intimate kind are the chief, if not the only, source of human happiness, yet the lives of creative individuals often seem to run counter to this assumption.

With the exception of certain rodents, no other vertebrate except Homo sapiens habitually destroys members of his own species.

It is only when we no longer compulsively need someone that we can have a real relationship with them.

Had [Winston Churchill] been a stable and equable man, he could never have inspired the nation. In 1940, when all the odds were against Britain, a leader of sober judgment might well have concluded that we were finished.

Originality implies being bold enough to go beyond accepted norms.

Inspiration cannot be willed, though it can be wooed.

Whether a belief is considered to be a delusion or not depends partly upon the intensity with which it is defended, and partly upon the numbers of people subscribing to it.