There is a radicalism in all getting, and a conservatism in all keeping. Lovemaking is radical, while marriage is conservative.

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

There are many who have grave scruples about deceiving but think it as nothing to deceive themselves.

With some people solitariness is an escape not from others but from themselves. For they see in the eyes of others only a reflection of themselves.

A doctrine insulates the devout not only against the realities around them but also against their own selves. The fanatical believer is not conscious of his envy, malice, pettiness and dishonesty. There is a wall of words between his consciousness and his real self.

A peculiar side of credulity is that it is often joined with a proneness to imposture. The association of believing and lying is not characteristic solely of children. They inability or unwillingness to see things as they are promotes both gullibility and charlatanism.

Our achievements speak for themselves. What we have to keep track of are our failures, discouragements and doubts. We tend to forget the past difficulties, the many false starts, and the painful groping. We see our past achievements as the end results of a clean forward thrust, and our present difficulties as signs of decline and decay.