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.

There are many who know many things, yet are lacking in wisdom.

There are many who know many things, yet are lacking in wisdom.

To be fully alive is to feel that everything is possible.

To be fully alive is to feel that everything is possible.

Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself.

Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself.

The first thing a man will do for his ideals is lie.

The first thing a man will do for his ideals is lie.

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.

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.

Habits... the only reason they persist is that they are offering some satisfaction. You allow them to persist by not read more

Habits... the only reason they persist is that they are offering some satisfaction. You allow them to persist by not seeking any other, better form of satisfying the same needs. Every habit, good or bad, is acquired and learned in the same way -- by finding that it is a means of satisfaction.

Obscurity is the refuge of incompetence.

Obscurity is the refuge of incompetence.