The average man is a conformist, accepting miseries and disasters with the stoicism of a cow standing in the rain.

The self-surmounter can never put up with the man who has ceased to be dissatisfied with himself.

I had never doubted my own abilities, but I was quite prepared to believe that "the world" would decline to recognize them.

The average man is a conformist, accepting miseries and disasters with the stoicism of a cow standing in the rain.

Phenomenology is not a philosophy; it is a philosophical method, a tool. It is like an adjustable spanner that can be used for dismantling a refrigerator or a car, or used for hammering in nails, or even for knocking somebody out.

It seemed perfectly possible that, in spite of my certainty of my own genius, I might die of some illness, or perhaps even in a street accident, before I had ever glimpsed the meaning of life. My moods of happiness and self-confidence convinced me that I had a "destiny" to become a famous writer, and to be remembered as one of the most important thinkers of the century.

The effects of mescalin or LSD can be, in some respects, far more satisfying than those of alcohol. To begin with, they last longer; they also leave behind no hangover, and leave the mental faculties clear and unimpaired. They stimulate the faculties and produce the ideal ground for a peak experience.