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

A person's creative ability decreases in direct proportion to the degree to which he takes himself seriously.

It is a talent of the weak to persuade themselves that they suffer for something when they suffer from something; that they are showing the way when they are running away; that they see the light when they feel the heat; that they are chosen when they are shunned.

It is futile to judge a kind deed by its motives. Kindness can become its own motive. We are made kind by being kind.

To believe that if only we had this or that we would be happy, or to pursue any excessive desire, diverts us from seeing that happiness depends on an adequate self.

Unless a man has the talents to make something of himself, freedom is an irksome burden.

There is no loneliness greater than the loneliness of a failure. The failure is a stranger in his own house.