Far more crucial than what we know or do not know is what we do not want to know. One read more

Far more crucial than what we know or do not know is what we do not want to know. One often obtains a clue to a person's nature by discovering the reasons for his or her imperviousness to certain impressions.

To be truly selfish one needs a degree of self-esteem. The self-despisers are less intent on their own increase than read more

To be truly selfish one needs a degree of self-esteem. The self-despisers are less intent on their own increase than on the diminution of others. Where self-esteem is unattainable, envy takes the place of greed.

What monstrosities would walk the streets were some people's faces as unfinished as their minds.

What monstrosities would walk the streets were some people's faces as unfinished as their minds.

The envious only hate the excellence they cannot reach.

The envious only hate the excellence they cannot reach.

Nature attains perfection, but man never does. There is a perfect ant, a perfect bee, but man is perpetually unfinished. read more

Nature attains perfection, but man never does. There is a perfect ant, a perfect bee, but man is perpetually unfinished. He is both an unfinished animal and an unfinished man. It is this incurable unfinishedness which sets man apart from other living things. For, in the attempt to finish himself, man becomes a creator. Moreover, the incurable unfinishedness keeps man perpetually immature, perpetually capable of learning and growing.

Whoso neglects learning in his youth, loses the past and is dead for the future.

Whoso neglects learning in his youth, loses the past and is dead for the future.

The prerequisite of originality is the art of forgetting, at the proper moment, what we know.

The prerequisite of originality is the art of forgetting, at the proper moment, what we know.

Unlike the pattern which seems to prevail in the rest of life, in the human species the weak not only read more

Unlike the pattern which seems to prevail in the rest of life, in the human species the weak not only survive but often triumph over the strong. The self-hatred inherent in the weak unlocks energies far more formidable then those mobilized by an ordinary struggle for existence.

The question is not whether we will be extremists, but what kind of extremists we will be...The nation and the read more

The question is not whether we will be extremists, but what kind of extremists we will be...The nation and the world are in dire need of creative extremists.