Man cannot be uplifted; he must be seduced into virtue

It would be a colorless world if each individual did not secretly believe himself superior to almost everyone else.

For all of the creeds are false, and all of the creeds are true; And low at the shrines where my brothers bow, there will I bow too; For no form of a god, and no fashion Man has made in his desperate passion, But is worthy some worship of mine; Not too hot with a gross belief, Nor yet too cold with pride, I will bow me down where my brothers bow, Humble, but open eyed.

Fishing is a delusion entirely surrounded by liars in old clothes.

As the skull of the man grows broader, so do his creeds. And his gods they are shaped in his image and mirror his needs. And he clothes them with thunders and beauty, He clothes them with music and fire, Seeing not, as he bows by their altars, That he worships his own desire.

The things that I can't have I want, And what I have seems second-rate, The things I want to do I can't, And what I have to do I hate.

Of middle age the best that can be said is that a middle aged person has likely learned how to have a little fun in spite of his troubles.