The burning conviction that we have a holy duty towards others is often a way of attaching our drowning selves to a passing raft. What looks like a giving hand is often a holding on for dear life. Take away our holy duties and you leave our lives puny and meaningless. There is no doubt that in exchanging a self-centered for a selfless life we gain enormously in self-esteem. The vanity of the selfless, even those who practice utmost humility, is boundless.
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Self-righteousness is a loud din raised to drown the voice of guilt within us.
Self-righteousness is a loud din raised to drown the voice of guilt within us.
...passionate intensity may serve as a substitute for confidence.
...passionate intensity may serve as a substitute for confidence.
Ideals are very often formed in the effort to escape from the hard task of dealing with facts, which is read more
Ideals are very often formed in the effort to escape from the hard task of dealing with facts, which is the function of science and art. There is no process by which to reach an ideal. There are no tests by which to verify it. It is therefore impossible to frame a proposition about an ideal which can be proved or disproved. It follows that the use of ideals is to be strictly limited to proper cases, and that the attempt to use ideals in social discussion does not deserve serious consideration.
Animals can learn, but it is not by learning that they become dogs, cats, or horses. Only man has to read more
Animals can learn, but it is not by learning that they become dogs, cats, or horses. Only man has to learn to become what he is supposed to be.
The hatred and cruelty which have their source in selfishness are ineffectual things compared with the venom and ruthlessness born read more
The hatred and cruelty which have their source in selfishness are ineffectual things compared with the venom and ruthlessness born of selflessness.
The question that faces every man born into this world is not what should be his purpose, which he should read more
The question that faces every man born into this world is not what should be his purpose, which he should set about to achieve, but just what to do with life? The answer, that he should order his life so that he can find the greatest happiness in it, is more a practical question, similar to that of how a man should spend his weekend, then a metaphysical proposition as to what is the mystic purpose of his life in the scheme of the universe.
A wonderful discovery--psychoanalysis. Makes quite simple people feel they're complex.
A wonderful discovery--psychoanalysis. Makes quite simple people feel they're complex.
...the integrative tendencies of the individual are incomparably more dangerous than his self-assertive tendencies.
...the integrative tendencies of the individual are incomparably more dangerous than his self-assertive tendencies.
Who shoots at the mid-day sun, though he be so sure he shall never hit the mark, yet as sure read more
Who shoots at the mid-day sun, though he be so sure he shall never hit the mark, yet as sure as he is, he shall shoot higher than he who aims at a bush.
