Religion is not a matter of God, church, holy cause, etc. These are but accessories. The source of religious preoccupation is in the self, or rather the rejection of the self. Dedication in the obverse side of self-rejection. Man alone is a religious animal because, as Montaigne points out, it is a malady confined to man, and not seen in any other creature, to hate and despise ourselves.

Perhaps our originality manifests itself most strikingly in what we do with that which we did not originate. To discover something wholly new can be a matter of chance, of idle tinkering, or even of the chronic dissatisfaction of the untalented.

All mass movements avail themselves of action as a means of unification. The conflicts a mass movement seeks and incites serve not only to down its enemies but also to strip its followers of their distinct individuality and render them more soluble in the collective medium.

Glory is largely a theatrical concept. There is no striving for glory without a vivid awareness of an audience.

...in the shaping of a life, chance and the ability to respond to chance are everything.

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.

We are least open to precise knowledge concerning the things we are most vehement about.