Difficult as it is really to listen to someone in affliction, it is just as difficult for him to know that compassion is listening to him.

Contradiction is the lever of transcendence.

The human soul has need of security and also of risk. The fear of violence or of hunger or of any other extreme evil is a sickness of the soul. The boredom produced by a complete absence of risk is also a sickness of the soul.

Imaginary evil is romantic and varied; real evil is gloomy, monotonous, barren, boring. Imaginary good is boring; real good is always new, marvelous, intoxicating.

The villagers seldom leave the village; many scientists have limited and poorly cultivated minds apart from their specialty.

Compassion directed toward oneself is true humility.

The lure of quantity is the most dangerous of all.