History repeats itself, but in such cunning disguise that we never detect the resemblance until the damage is done.

Take away grievances from some people and you remove their reasons for living; most of us are nourished by hope, but a considerable minority get psychic nutrition from their resentments, and would waste away purposelessly without them.

The profound immoralities of our time are cruelty, indifference, injustice and the use of others as means rather than ends in themselves.

It is not only useless, it is harmful, to believe in oneself until one truly knows oneself. And to know oneself means to accept our moments of insanity, of eccentricity, of childishness and blindness.

When we have "second thoughts" about something, our first thoughts don't seem like thoughts at all - just feelings.

And most of the failures in parent-child relationships, from my observation, begin when the child begins to acquire a mind and a will of its own, to make independent decisions and to question the omnipotence or the wisdom of the parent.

People who think they're generous to a fault usually think that's their only fault.