Ideas have significance for him only as a prelude to action.

Mass movements do not usually rise until the prevailing order has been discredited.

We all have private ails. The troublemakers are they who need public cures for their private ails.

Where unity and self-sacrifice are indispensable for the normal functioning of society, everyday life is likely to be either religiofied (common tasks turned into holy causes) or militarized.

What greater reassurance can the weak have than that they are like anyone else?

When we debunk a fanatical faith or prejudice, we do not strike at the root of fanaticism. We merely prevent its leaking out at a certain point, with the likely result that it will leak out at some other point.

The compulsion to take ourselves seriously is in inverse proportion to our creative capacity. When the creative flow dries up, all we have left is our importance.