Firmness of purpose is one of the most necessary sinews of character, and one of the best instruments of success. read more

Firmness of purpose is one of the most necessary sinews of character, and one of the best instruments of success. Without it genius wastes its efforts in a maze of inconsistencies.

There is apparently some connection between dissatisfaction with oneself and proneness to credulity. The urge to escape our real self read more

There is apparently some connection between dissatisfaction with oneself and proneness to credulity. The urge to escape our real self is also an urge to escape the rational and the obvious. The refusal to see ourselves as we are develops a distaste for facts and cold logic. There is no hope for the frustrated in the actual and the possible. Salvation can come to them only from the miraculous, which seeps through a crack in the iron wall of inexorable reality. They asked to be deceived.

The end comes when we no longer talk with ourselves. It is the end of genuine thinking and the beginning read more

The end comes when we no longer talk with ourselves. It is the end of genuine thinking and the beginning of the final loneliness.The remarkable thing is that the cessation of the inner dialogue marks also the end of our concern with the world around us. It is as if we noted the world and think about it only when we have to report it to ourselves.

To the fool, he who speaks wisdom will sound foolish.

To the fool, he who speaks wisdom will sound foolish.

The ideas which now pass for brilliant innovations and advances are in fact mere revivals of ancient errors, and a read more

The ideas which now pass for brilliant innovations and advances are in fact mere revivals of ancient errors, and a further proof of the dictum that those who are ignorant of the past are condemned to repeat it.

The easier it is to do, the harder it is to change.

The easier it is to do, the harder it is to change.

To be aware how fruitful the playful mood can be is to be immune to the propaganda of the alienated, read more

To be aware how fruitful the playful mood can be is to be immune to the propaganda of the alienated, which extols resentment as a fuel of achievement.

The awareness of their individual blemishes and shortcomings inclines the frustrated to detect ill will and meanness in their fellow read more

The awareness of their individual blemishes and shortcomings inclines the frustrated to detect ill will and meanness in their fellow men. Self-contempt, however vague, sharpens our eyes for the imperfections of others. We usually strive to reveal in others the blemishes we hide in ourselves.

Ideas, as the raw material from which knowledge is produced, exist in superabundance, but that makes the production of knowledge read more

Ideas, as the raw material from which knowledge is produced, exist in superabundance, but that makes the production of knowledge more difficult rather than easier. Many ideas- probably most- will have to be discarded somewhere in the process of producing authenticated knowledge. Authentication is as important as the raw information itself, and the manner and speed of the authentication process can be crucial...