Nature attains perfection, but man never does.

The main effect of a real revolution is perhaps that it sweeps away those who do not know how to wish, and brings to the front men with insatiable appetites for action, power and all that the world has to offer.

It is remarkable by how much a pinch of malice enhances the penetrating power of an idea or an opinion. Our ears, it seems, are wonderfully attuned to sneers and evil reports about our fellow men.

...the majority of people cannot endure the bareness and futility of their lives unless they have some ardent dedication, or some passionate pursuit in which they can lose themselves.

The beginning of thought is in disagreement - not only with others but also with ourselves.

It is startling to see how the oppressed almost invariably shape themselves in the image of their hated oppressors.

Many of the insights of the saint stem from his experience as a sinner.