Civilized society is perpetually menaced with disintegration through this primary hostility of men towards one another.

The time comes when each of us has to give up as illusions the expectations which, in his youth, he pinned upon his fellow-men, and when he may learn how much difficulty and pain has been added to his life by their ill-will.

The effect of the consolations of religion may be compared to that of a narcotic.

America is the most grandiose experiment the world has seen, but, I am afraid, it is not going to be a success.

When inspiration does not come to me, I go halfway to meet it.

Indeed, the great Leonardo (da Vinci) remained like a child for the whole of his life in more than one way. It is said that all great men are bound to retain some infantile part. Even as an adult he continued to play, and this was another reason why he often appeared uncanny and incomprehensible to his contemporaries.

It is a predisposition of human nature to consider an unpleasant idea untrue, and then it is easy to find arguments against it.