“We must escape our illusions of correctness to understand the actions and beliefs of others.”

Ideas are like wandering sons. They show up when you least expect them.

Life is supposed to be a series of peaks and valleys. The secret is to keep the valleys from becoming Grand Canyons.

An extravagance is something that your spirit thinks is a necessity.

Unsolicited advice is the junk mail of life.

You are mature when you know what is foolhardy and what is courage.

There is no psychiatrist in the world like a puppy licking your face.

What a strange world this would be if we all had the same sense of humor.

September tries its best to have us forget summer.

Few things are as democratic as a snowstorm.

Few things move as quietly as the future.

The day the Lord created hope was probably the same day he created Spring.

We may pass violets looking for roses. We may pass contentment looking for victory.

If we try and fail, we have temporary disappointments. But if we do not try at all, we have permanent regrets.

The average man will bristle if you say his father was dishonest, but he will brag a little if he discovers that his great-grandfather was a Pirate.

Americans are optimists. They hope they’ll be wealthy someday – and they’re positive they can get one more brushful of paint out of an empty can.

Talent is a flame. Genius is a fire.

There is no liberation to compare with freeing oneself from the illusions and delusions of the age in which one lives.

The happiness of being envied is glamour. Being envied is a solitary form of reassurance. It depends precisely upon not sharing your experience with those who envy you.

You are observed with interest but you do not observe with interest – if you do, you will become less enviable. In this respect the envied are like bureaucrats; the more impersonal they are, the greater the illusion (for themselves and for others) of their power.

Don’t take shadows too seriously. Reality is your only safety. Continue to reject illusion.

I think my quarry is illusion. I war against magic. I believe that, though illusion often cheers and comforts, it ultimately and invariably weakens and constricts the spirit.

The envied are like bureaucrats; the more impersonal they are, the greater the illusion (for themselves and for others) of their power.

If a man proves too clearly and convincingly to himself…that a tiger is an optical illusion–well, he will find out he is wrong.

In many ways, constancy is an illusion.