We have to adjust ourselves, and every radical adjustment is a crisis in self-esteem: we undergo a test, we have to prove ourselves.

Love-making is radical, while marriage is conservative.

The game of history is usually played by the best and the worst over the heads of the majority in the middle.

The end comes when we no longer talk with ourselves. It is the end of genuine thinking and the beginning of the final loneliness. The remarkable thing is that the cessation of the inner dialogue marks also the end of our concern with the world around us. It is as if we noted the world and think about it only when we have to report it to ourselves.

Self-esteem and self-contempt have specific odors; they can be smelled.

Fear comes from uncertainty. When we are absolutely certain, whether of our worth or worthlessness, we are almost impervious to fear. Thus a feeling of utter unworthiness can be a source of courage.

There is in most passions a shrinking away from ourselves. The passionate pursuer has all the earmarks of a fugitive.