We must accept all the implications of our human inheritance, one of the most important of which is the small scope of biologically transmitted behavior, and the enormous role of the cultural process of the transmission of tradition.

I gambled on having the strength to live two lives, one for myself and one for the world.

... it is a commonplace that men like war. For peace, in our society, with the feeling we have then that it is feeble-minded to strive except for one's own private profit, is a lonely thing and a hazardous business. Over and over men have proved that they prefer the hazards of war with all its suffering. It has its compensations.

The trouble with life isn't that there is no answer, it's that there are so many answers.

Faith is the virtue of the storm, just as happiness is the virtue of sunshine.

A man's indebtedness is not virtue; his repayment is. Virtue begins when he dedicates himself actively to the job of gratitude.

Western civilization, because of fortuitous historical circumstances, has spread itself more widely than any other local group that has so far been known.