Man's character is the product of his premises.

Who was it that said he needed a fulcrum? Give me an unobstructed right-of-way and I'll show them how to move the earth!

Then no rightful cause was left, and the pain of anger was turning into the shameful pain of submission. He had no right to condemn anyone - he thought - to denounce anything, to fight and die joyously, claiming the sanctity of virtue. The broken promises, the unconfessed desires, the betrayal, the deceit, the lies, the fraud - he was guilty of them all. What form of corruption could he scorn? Degrees do not matter, he thought; one does not bargain about inches of evil.

Every aspect of Western culture needs a new code of ethics - a rational ethics - as a precondition of rebirth.

This was the great clarity of being beyond emotion, after the reward of having felt everything one could feel.

Did I feel a physical desire for him? I did. Was I moved by a passion of my body? I was. Have I experienced the most violent form of sensual pleasure? I have.

When personal judgment is inoperative (or forbidden), men's first concern is not how to choose, but how to justify their choice