The idea that freedom is merely the ability to act upon one's whims is surely very thin and hardly begins to capture the complexities of human existence; a man whose appetite is his law strikes us not as liberated but enslaved.

When every benefit received is a right, there is no place for good manners, let alone for gratitude.

The idea that freedom is merely the ability to act upon one's whims is surely very thin and hardly begins to capture the complexities of human existence; a man whose appetite is his law strikes us not as liberated but enslaved.

The idea that man is a tabula rasa, or Mao's sheet of blank paper upon which the most beautiful characters can be written, is an old one with disastrous implications. I do not think though that the cults you mention could survive honest thought about human nature.

It is only by having desire thwarted, and thereby learning to control it — in other words, by becoming civilized — that men become fully human.

A curious reversal in the locus of moral concern has taken place: people feel responsible for everything except for what they do.

Equality of Ugliness: If we can't all live in a beautiful place we must all live in an ugly place.