Nationalist pride, like other variants of pride, can be a substitute for self-respect.

A passionate obsession with the outside world or the private lives of others is an attempt to compensate for a lack of meaning in one's own life

Far more crucial than what we know or do not know is what we do not want to know.

The fear of becoming a 'has-been' keeps some people from becoming anything.

However different the holy causes people die for, they perhaps die basically for the same thing.

The wise learn from the experience of others, and the creative know how to make a crumb of experience go a long way.

There is a totalitarian regime inside every one of us. We are ruled by a ruthless politburo which sets our norms and drives us from one five-year plan to another. The autonomous individual who has to justify his existence by his own efforts is in eternal bondage to himself.