Lord, grant that my work increase knowledge and help other men. Failing that, Lord, grant that it will not lead to man’s destruction. Failing that, Lord, grant that my article in Brain be published before the destruction takes place.

Nothing remains but desire, and desire comes howling down Elysian Fields like a mistral.

Before, I wandered as a diversion. Now I wander seriously and sit and read as a diversion.

Why is there such a gap between nonspeaking animals and speaking man, when there is no other such gap in nature?

The present age is demented. It is possessed by a sense of dislocation, a loss of personal identity, an alternating sentimentality and rage which, in an individual patient, could be characterized as dementia.

Nowadays when a person lives somewhere, in a neighborhood, the place is not certified for him. More than likely he will live there sadly and the emptiness which is inside him will expand until it evacuates the entire neighborhood. But if he sees a movie which shows his very neighborhood, it becomes possible for him to live, for a time at least, as a person who is Somewhere and not Anywhere.

Losing hope is not so bad. There's something worse: losing hope and hiding it from yourself.