In the alchemy of man's soul almost all noble attributes- courage, honor, love, hope, faith, duty, loyalty, and so on- can be transmuted into ruthlessness. Compassion alone stands apart from the continuous traffic between good and evil proceeding within us. Compassion is the antitoxin of the soul: where there is compassion, even the most poisonous impulses remain relatively harmless.
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The trouble with people is not that they don't know but that they know so much that ain't so.
The trouble with people is not that they don't know but that they know so much that ain't so.
Men have made an idol of luck as an excuse for their own thoughtlessness.
Men have made an idol of luck as an excuse for their own thoughtlessness.
Impartial observers from other planets would consider ours an utterly bizarre enclave if it were populated by birds, defined as read more
Impartial observers from other planets would consider ours an utterly bizarre enclave if it were populated by birds, defined as flying animals, that nevertheless rarely or never actually flew. They would also be perplexed if they encountered in our seas, lakes, rivers, and ponds, creatures defined as swimmers that never did any swimming. But they would be even more surprised to encounter a species defined as a thinking animal if, in fact, the creature very rarely indulged in actual thinking.
The uncompromising attitude is more indicative of an inner uncertainty than a deep conviction. The implacable stand is directed more read more
The uncompromising attitude is more indicative of an inner uncertainty than a deep conviction. The implacable stand is directed more against the doubt within than the assailant without.
The honest man must be a perpetual renegade, the life of an honest man a perpetual infidelity. For the man read more
The honest man must be a perpetual renegade, the life of an honest man a perpetual infidelity. For the man who wishes to remain faithful to truth must make himself perpetually unfaithful to all the continual, successive, indefatigable renascent errors.
It is only doubt that creates. It is only the minority that counts.
It is only doubt that creates. It is only the minority that counts.
Knowledge can be enormously costly, and is often scattered in widely uneven fragments, too small to be individually usable in read more
Knowledge can be enormously costly, and is often scattered in widely uneven fragments, too small to be individually usable in decision making. The communication and coordination of these scattered fragments of knowledge is one of the basic problems- perhaps the basic problem- of any society.
Instinct is the nose of the mind.
Instinct is the nose of the mind.
A large part of the popularity and persuasiveness of psychology comes from its being a sublimated spiritualism: a secular, ostensibly read more
A large part of the popularity and persuasiveness of psychology comes from its being a sublimated spiritualism: a secular, ostensibly scientific way of affirming the primacy of "spirit" over matter.
