“Nearly always, so as to live at peace with ourselves, we disguise our own impotence and weakness as calculation and policy; it is our way of placating that half of our being which is in a sense a spectator of the other.”

Art for art’s sake, with no purpose, for any purpose perverts art. But art achieves a purpose which is not its own. (1804)

The great question in life is the suffering we cause, and the most ingenious metaphysics do not justify the man who has broken the heart that loved him.

There are things one does not say for a long time, but, once they are said, one never stops repeating them.

No duty, however, binds us to these so-called laws, whose corrupting influence menaces what is noblest in our being.

There is a bizarre notion according to which it is claimed that because men are corrupt, it is necessary to give certain of them all the more power… on the contrary, they must be given less power.

Every time government attempts to handle our affairs, it costs more and the results are worse than if we had handled them ourselves.

Calculating selfishness is the annihilation of self.

When a peasant begins to feel the need for instruction, he usually becomes fiercely calculating.

Action on the move creates its own route, creates to a very great extent the conditions under which it is to be fulfilled and thus baffles all calculation.

We passed the Children’s Bureau bill calculated to prevent children from being employed too early in factories.

The most common misconception people have had in the past is about my own control and calculation of my career.

All our fret and worry is caused by calculating without God.

Fast food may appear to be cheap food and, in the literal sense it often is, but that is because huge social and environmental costs are being excluded from the calculations.

Instead of ignorance, I tasted what it might be like to finally be me. I didn’t give a show this time. I had no plan, no calculations. No scolding voice inside my head. For a little while, I was free.