The main effect of a real revolution is perhaps that it sweeps away those who do not know how to wish, and brings to the front men with insatiable appetites for action, power and all that the world has to offer.

It is our talents rusting unused within us that secrete the poison of self-doubt into our bloodstream.

Resistance, whether to one's appetites or to the ways of the world, is a chief factor in the shaping of character.

When we believe ourselves in possession of the only truth, we are likely to be indifferent to common everyday truths.

Imitation is often a shortcut to a solution. We copy when we lack the inclination, the ability or the time to work out an independent solution. People in a hurry will imitate more readily than people at leisure. Hustling thus tends to produce uniformity. And in the deliberate fusing of individuals into a compact group, incessant action will play a considerable role.

Man is a luxury-loving animal. Take away play, fancies, and luxuries, and you will turn man into a dull, sluggish creature, barely energetic enough to obtain a bare subsistence. A society becomes stagnant when its people are too rational or too serious to be tempted by baubles.

Creativity is the ability to introduce order into the randomness of nature.