Children, savages and true believers remember far less what they have seen than what they have heard.

There is no loneliness greater than the loneliness of a failure. The failure is a stranger in his own house.

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

Compassion is the antitoxin of the soul: where there is compassion even the most poisonous impulses remain relatively harmless.

Sensuality reconciles us with the human race. The misanthropy of the old is due in large part to the fading of the magic glow of desire.

Absolute power corrupts even when exercised for humane purposes. The benevolent despot who sees himself as a shepherd of the people still demands from others the submissiveness of sheep. The taint inherent in absolute power is not its inhumanity but its anti-humanity.

To the old, the new is usually bad news.