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Action may not always bring happiness; but there is no happiness without action.
Action may not always bring happiness; but there is no happiness without action.
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.
When under the pretext of fraternity, the legal code imposes mutual sacrifices on the citizens, human nature is not thereby read more
When under the pretext of fraternity, the legal code imposes mutual sacrifices on the citizens, human nature is not thereby abrogated. Everyone will then direct his efforts toward contributing little to, and taking much from, the common fund of sacrifices. Now, is it the most unfortunate who gains from this struggle? Certainly not, but rather the most influential and calculating.
Implicit in the activist conception of government is the assumption that you can take the good things in a complex read more
Implicit in the activist conception of government is the assumption that you can take the good things in a complex system for granted, and just improve the things that are not so good. What is lacking in this conception is any sense that a society, an institution, or even a single human being, is an intricate system of fragile inter-relationships, whose complexities are little understood and easily destabilized.
Good means not merely not to do wrong, but rather not to desire to do wrong.
Good means not merely not to do wrong, but rather not to desire to do wrong.
Only a mediocre person is always at his best.
Only a mediocre person is always at his best.
Reality is wrong. Dreams are for real.
Reality is wrong. Dreams are for real.
Love and envy make a man pine, which other affections do not, because they are not so continual.
Love and envy make a man pine, which other affections do not, because they are not so continual.
Courage is not a virtue or value among other personal values like love or fidelity. It is the foundation that read more
Courage is not a virtue or value among other personal values like love or fidelity. It is the foundation that underlies and gives reality to all other virtues and personal values. Without courage our love pales into mere dependency. Without courage our fidelity becomes conformism.