The continuous disasters of man's history are mainly due to his excessive capacity and urge to become identified with a tribe, nation, church or cause, and to espouse its credo uncritically and enthusiastically, even if its tenets are contrary to reason, devoid of self-interest and detrimental to the claims of self-preservation.We are thus driven to the unfashionable conclusion that the trouble with our species is not an excess of aggression, but an excess capacity for fanatical devotion.
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They may forget what you said, but they will never forget how you made them feel.
They may forget what you said, but they will never forget how you made them feel.
The most effective way to silence our guilty conscience is to convince ourselves and others that those we have sinned read more
The most effective way to silence our guilty conscience is to convince ourselves and others that those we have sinned against are indeed depraved creatures, deserving every punishment, even extermination. We cannot pity those we have wronged, nor can we be indifferent toward them. We must hate and persecute them or else leave the door open to self-contempt.
The true function of art is to...edit nature and so make it coherent and lovely. The artist is a sort read more
The true function of art is to...edit nature and so make it coherent and lovely. The artist is a sort of impassioned proofreader, blue-penciling the bad spelling of God.
Irony is the hygiene of the mind.
Irony is the hygiene of the mind.
When people are bored, it is primarily with their own selves that they are bored.
When people are bored, it is primarily with their own selves that they are bored.
Reality is wrong. Dreams are for real.
Reality is wrong. Dreams are for real.
Psychoanalysis is the mental illness it purports to cure.
Psychoanalysis is the mental illness it purports to cure.
To believe that if we could but have this or that we would be happy is to suppress the realization read more
To believe that if we could but have this or that we would be happy is to suppress the realization that the cause of our unhappiness is in our inadequate and blemished selves. Excessive desire is thus a means of suppressing our sense of worthlessness.
He who can take no interest in what is small will take false interest in what is great.
He who can take no interest in what is small will take false interest in what is great.
