There is probably an element of malice in the readiness to overestimate people: we are laying up for ourselves the read more

There is probably an element of malice in the readiness to overestimate people: we are laying up for ourselves the pleasure of later cutting them down to size.

Power concedes nothing without a demand.

Power concedes nothing without a demand.

We shall assume that what each man does is based not on direct and certain knowledge, but by pictures made read more

We shall assume that what each man does is based not on direct and certain knowledge, but by pictures made by himself or given to him. If his atlas tells him the world is flat he will not sail near what he believes to be the edge of our planet for fear of falling off. If his maps include a fountain of eternal youth, a Ponce de Leon will go off in quest of it. If someone digs up yellow dirt that looks like gold, he will for a time act exactly as if he has found gold. The way in which the world is imagined determines at any particular moment what men will do. It does not determine what they will achieve. It determines their effort, their feelings, their hopes, not their accomplishments and results.

Such is human psychology that if we don't express our joy, we soon cease to feel it.

Such is human psychology that if we don't express our joy, we soon cease to feel it.

We cannot hate those who we despise.

We cannot hate those who we despise.

However human, envy is certainly not one of the sources of discontent that a free society can eliminate. It is read more

However human, envy is certainly not one of the sources of discontent that a free society can eliminate. It is probably one of the essential conditions for the preservation of such a society that we do not countenance envy, not sanction its demands by camouflaging it as social justice, but treat it, in the words of John Stuart Mill, as "the most anti-social and evil of all passions.

We do not usually look for allies when we love. Indeed, we often look on those who love with us read more

We do not usually look for allies when we love. Indeed, we often look on those who love with us as rivals and trespassers. But we always look for allies when we hate.

The capacity for getting along with our neighbor depends to a large extent on the capacity for getting along with read more

The capacity for getting along with our neighbor depends to a large extent on the capacity for getting along with ourselves. The self-respecting individual will try to be as tolerant of his neighbor's shortcomings as he is of his own.

Happiness is good health and a bad memory.

Happiness is good health and a bad memory.