Our greatest pretenses are built up not to hide the evil and the ugly in us, but our emptiness. The hardest thing to hide is something that is not there.

No matter what our achievements might be, we think well of ourselves only in rare moments. We need people to bear witness against our inner judge, who keeps book on our shortcomings and transgressions. We need people to convince us that we are not as bad as we think we are.

There is probably nothing more sublime than discontent transmuted into a work of art, a scientific discovery, and so on.

Learners inherit the earth; while the learned find themselves beautifully equipped to deal with a world that no longer exists.

Unlimited opportunities can be as potent a cause of frustration as a paucity or lack of opportunities.

What Pascal said of an effective religion is true of any effective doctrine: it must be "contrary to nature, to common sense and to pleasure.

Our credulity is greatest concerning the things we know least about.