“He who despairs of the human condition is a coward, but he who has hope for it is a fool.”

What made me run away was doubtless not so much the fear of settling down, but of settling down permanently in something ugly.

Man is always prey to his truths. Once he has admitted them, he cannot free himself from them.

I’ve never really had much of an imagination. But still I would try to picture the exact moment when the beating of my heart would no longer be going on inside my head.

Happiness and the absurd are two sons of the same earth. They are inseparable.

After awhile you could get used to anything.

And it was like knocking four quick times on the door of unhappiness.

Integrity has no need of rules.

Don’t walk behind me; I may not lead. Don’t walk in front of me; I may not follow. Just walk beside me and be my friend.

Every act of rebellion expresses a nostalgia for innocence and an appeal to the essence of being.

The purpose of a writer is to keep civilization from destroying itself.

We are all special cases.

Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower.

There are crimes of passion and crimes of logic. The boundary between them is not clearly defined.

It is a kind of spiritual snobbery that makes people think they can be happy without money.

Much unhappiness has come into the world because of bewilderment and things left unsaid.

Blessed are the hearts that can bend; they shall never be broken.

When you’re 6 or 7, your father becomes this wonderful presence in your life. I really responded to my father. And then, the very moment I realized that I loved him unconditionally, that life was going to be great just because he was in it, he was gone.

Wars always bring about a conservative reaction. They overwhelm and destroy patient and careful efforts to improve the condition of man.

Europe is overpopulated, the world will soon be in the same condition, and if the self-reproduction of man is not rationalized… we shall have war.

Absolute identity with one’s cause is the first and great condition of successful leadership.

Consul – in American politics, a person who having failed to secure an office from the people is given one by the Administration on condition that he leave the country.

The true Mason takes full responsibility for the condition of his character and ever strives for its perfection.

There’s this idea that because I’m a heavyweight, I’m not supposed to be in condition, that I should take advantage of the fact that I can eat. But I train and eat well, and it shows when I step on the scales.

The world is conditioned to admire flowers. Keep watering your roots.