To have to fight the instincts - that is the definition of decadence: as long as life is ascending, happiness equals instinct.

Being human is a complicated gig. So give that ol' dark night of the soul a hug. Howl the eternal yes!

All isolation is wrong so say the herd. And long didst thou belong to the herd.

The followers of a great man often put their eyes out, so that they may be the better able to sing his praise.

Morality is neither rational nor absolute nor natural. World has known many moral systems, each of which advances claims universality; all moral systems are therefore particular, serving a specific purpose for their propagators or creators, and enforcing a certain regime that disciplines human beings for social life by narrowing our perspectives and limiting our horizons.

Beggars should be entirely abolished! Truly, it is annoying to give to them and annoying not to give to them.

The most welcome joke to me is the one that takes the place of a heavy, not altogether innocuous thought, at once a cautionary hint of the finger and a flash of the eye.