“The passion for equality is partly a passion for anonymity: to be one thread of the many which make up a tunic; one thread not distinguishable from the others. No one can then point us out, measure us against others and expose our inferiority.”

To change everything, simply change your attitude.

Jesus was not a Christian, nor was Marx a Marxist.

When people are free to do as they please, they usually imitate each other.

Take away hatred from some people, and you have men without faith.

There is no doubt that in exchanging a self-centered for a selfless life we gain enormously in self-esteem. The vanity of the selfless, even those who practice utmost humility, is boundless.

The history of this country was made largely by people who wanted to be left alone. Those who could not thrive when left to themselves never felt at ease in America.

Children are the keys of paradise.

Add a few drops of venom to a half truth and you have an absolute truth.

Power corrupts the few, while weakness corrupts the many.

The education explosion is producing a vast number of people who want to live significant, important lives but lack the ability to satisfy this craving for importance by individual achievement. The country is being swamped with nobodies who want to be somebodies.

It is the malady of our age that the young are so busy teaching us that they have no time left to learn.

The creative mind is the playful mind. Philosophy is the play and dance of ideas.

Our frustration is greater when we have much and want more than when we have nothing and want some. We are less dissatisfied when we lack many things than when we seem to lack but one thing.

We lie loudest when we lie to ourselves.

To be fully alive is to feel that everything is possible.

I have a premonition that will not leave me: as it goes with Israel so will it go with all of us. Should Israel perish, the holocaust will be upon us.

Let’s be open-minded, but not so open-minded that our brains drop out.

Life is the most brutal endurance sport of all time.

Man suffers only because he takes seriously what the gods made for fun.

Only doubtful truths need defense.

Deep in earth my love is lying and I must weep alone.

The more we try to live in the world of words, the more we feel isolated and alone, the more all the joy and liveliness of things is exchanged for mere certainty and security.

Once begun, change cannot be reversed.

There is more wisdom in your body than in your deepest philosophy.