It has often been said that power corrupts. But it is perhaps equally important to realize that weakness, too, corrupts. read more

It has often been said that power corrupts. But it is perhaps equally important to realize that weakness, too, corrupts. Power corrupts the few, while weakness corrupts the many. Hatred, malice, rudeness, intolerance, and suspicion are the faults of weakness. The resentment of the weak does not spring from any injustice done to them but from their sense of inadequacy and impotence. We cannot win the weak by sharing our wealth with them. They feel our generosity as oppression.

That hatred springs more from self-contempt than from a legitimate grievance is seen in the intimate connection between hatred and read more

That hatred springs more from self-contempt than from a legitimate grievance is seen in the intimate connection between hatred and a guilty conscience.

It's amazing how much "mature wisdom" resembles being too tired.

It's amazing how much "mature wisdom" resembles being too tired.

All cruelty springs from weakness.

All cruelty springs from weakness.

What are we when we are alone? Some, when they are alone, cease to exist.

What are we when we are alone? Some, when they are alone, cease to exist.

Passionate hatred can give meaning and purpose to an empty life. Thus people haunted by the purposelessness of their lives read more

Passionate hatred can give meaning and purpose to an empty life. Thus people haunted by the purposelessness of their lives try to find a new content not only by dedicating themselves to a holy cause but also by nursing a fanatical grievance. A mass movement offers them unlimited opportunities for both.

Psychoanalysis has changed American psychology from a diagnostic to a therapeutic science, not because so many patients are cured by read more

Psychoanalysis has changed American psychology from a diagnostic to a therapeutic science, not because so many patients are cured by the psychoanalytic technique, but because of the new understanding of psychiatric patients it has given us, and the new and different concept of illness and health.

Habits... the only reason they persist is that they are offering some satisfaction. You allow them to persist by not read more

Habits... the only reason they persist is that they are offering some satisfaction. You allow them to persist by not seeking any other, better form of satisfying the same needs. Every habit, good or bad, is acquired and learned in the same way -- by finding that it is a means of satisfaction.

I know how men in exile feed on dreams.

I know how men in exile feed on dreams.