Our credulity is greatest concerning the things we know least about. And since we know least about ourselves, we are ready to believe all that is said about us. Hence the mysterious power of both flattery and calumny.

We are least open to precise knowledge concerning the things we are most vehement about.

Where everything is possible miracles become commonplaces, but the familiar ceases to be self-evident.

It is also plausible that those movements with the greatest inner contradiction and between profession and practice - that is to say with a strong feeling of guilt - are likely to be the most fervent in imposing their faith on others.

An easygoing person is probably more accessible to the realization of eternity--the endless flow of life and death--than one who takes his prospects and duties overseriously. It is the overserious who are truly frivolous.

It is the awareness of unfulfilled desires which gives a nation the feeling that it has a mission and a destiny.

It is not actual suffering but the taste of better things which excites people to revolt.