a great moment raises most of the people who experience it, to its own level; and that is why they do not always recognize its greatness - or their own.

Every new truth begins in a shocking heresy.

Of all the bitter and heavy things in this sorry old world, the not being necessary is the bitterest and heaviest.

... when personal happiness conflicts with any great human ideal, the right to claim such happiness is as nothing compared to the privilege of resigning it.

Self-sacrifice which denies common sense is not a virtue. It's a spiritual dissipation.

War is wicked, beause it is murder and hate. And it is foolish, because hate and murder can only destroy people's bodies, not change their minds.

Age, with shamefaced relief, has learned the solvent quality of Time. It is this quality which makes possible the contemplation of certain embarrassing heavenly reunions.