It is the around-the-corner brand of hope that prompts people to action, while the distant hope acts as an opiate.

Free men are aware of the imperfection inherent in human affairs, and they are willing to fight and die for that which is not perfect.

You cannot gauge the intelligence of an American by talking with him; you must work with him. The American polishes and refines his way of doing things-even the most commonplace-the way the French of the 17th century polished their maxims.

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.

Those who see their lives as spoiled and wasted crave equality and fraternity more than they do freedom. If they clamor for freedom, it is but freedom to establish equality and uniformity.

For men to plunge headlong into an undertaking of vast change, they must be intensely discontented yet not destitute, and they must have the feeling that by the possession of some potent doctrine, infallible leader or some new technique they have access to a source of irresistible power.

A passionate obsession with the outside world or the private lives of others is an attempt to compensate for a lack of meaning in one's own life