All mass movements strive, therefore, to interpose a fact-proof screen between the faithful and the realities of the world. They do this by claiming that the ultimate and absolute truth is already embodied in their doctrine and that there is no truth nor certitude outside it. The facts on which the true believer bases his conclusions must not be derived from his experience or observation but from holy writ.

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

Unless a man has the talents to make something of himself, freedom is an irksome burden.

It is the individual only who is timeless. Societies, cultures, and civilizations -- past and present -- are often incomprehensible to outsiders, but the individual's hungers, anxieties, dreams, and preoccupations have remained unchanged through the millenia.

When people are free to do as they please, they usually imitate each other.

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

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