Self-righteousness is a loud din raised to drown the voice of guilt within us.

Excesses are essentially gestures. It is easy to be extremely cruel, magnanimous, humble or self-sacrificing when we see ourselves as actors in a performance.

An empty head is not really empty; it is stuffed with rubbish. Hence the difficulty of forcing anything into an empty head.

There would be no society if living together depended upon understanding each other.

A just society must strive with all its might to right wrongs even if righting wrongs is a highly perilous undertaking. But if it is to survive, a just society must be strong and resolute enough to deal swiftly and relentlessly with those who would mistake its good will for weakness.

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

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