The word of God came down to man as rain to soil, and the result was mud, not clear water. (Bistami) Pg. 128

History was like some vast thing that was always over the tight horizon, invisible except in its effects. It was what happened when you weren't looking -- an unknowable infinity of events, which although out of control, controlled everything.

When it comes to the environment, the invisible hand never picks up the check.

And in this curious state I had the realization, at the moment of seeing that stranger there, that I was a person like everybody else. That I was known by my actions and words, that my internal universe was unavailable for inspection by others. They didn't know. They didn't know, because I never told them.

That's libertarians for you - anarchists who want police protection from their slaves.

You can only kill disappointment with a new try.

Beauty was the promise of happiness, not happiness itself; and the anticipated world was often more rich than anything real.