Great stones they lay upon his chest until he plead aye or nay. They say he give them but two words. "More weight," he says. And died.

There is unquestionably a contradiction between an efficient technological machine and the flowering of human nature, of the human personality.

The need of man to wholly realize himself is the only fixed star.

I think the tragic feeling is invoked in us when we are in the presence of a character who is ready to lay down his life, if need be, to secure one thing -- his sense of personal dignity.

The famous are balloons far up in the sky, to be envied for their quiet freedom or shot down as enemies.

Those who formally rule take their signals and commands not from the electorate as a body, but from a small group of men. This group will be called the Establishment. It exists even though that existence is stoutly denied. It is one of the secrets of the American social order... A second secret is the fact that the existence of the Establishment - the ruling class - is not supposed to be discussed.

It was not really possible to understand oneself, let alone another human being.