Trivial facts are often the best hints to what is going on.

Trivial facts are often the best hints to what is going on.

The vigor of a mass movement stems from the propensity of its followers for united action and self-sacrifice. When we read more

The vigor of a mass movement stems from the propensity of its followers for united action and self-sacrifice. When we ascribe the success of a movement to its faith, doctrine, propaganda, leadership, ruthlessness and so on, we are but referring to instruments of unification and to means used to inculcate a readiness for self-sacrifice. It is perhaps impossible to understand the nature of a mass movement unless it is recognized that their chief preoccupation is to foster, perfect and perpetuate a facility for united action and self-sacrifice.

The strongest man upon Earth is he who stands most alone.

The strongest man upon Earth is he who stands most alone.

Cultures contain many cues and inducements to dissuade the individual from approaching ultimate limits, in much the same way that read more

Cultures contain many cues and inducements to dissuade the individual from approaching ultimate limits, in much the same way that a special warning strip of land around the edge of a baseball field lets a player know that he is about to run into a concrete wall when he is preoccupied with catching the ball. The wider that strip of land and the more sensitive the player is to the changing composition of the ground under his feet as he pursues the ball, the more effective the warning. Romanticizing or lionizing as "individualistic" those people who disregard social cues and inducements increases the danger of head-on collisions with inherent social limits. Decrying various forms of social disapproval is in effect narrowing the warning strip.

A people is but the attempt of many
To rise to the completer life of one--
And read more

A people is but the attempt of many
To rise to the completer life of one--
And those who live as models for the mass
Are singly of more value than they all.

It is useless for sheep to pass resolutions in favor of vegetarianism while wolves remain of a different opinion.

It is useless for sheep to pass resolutions in favor of vegetarianism while wolves remain of a different opinion.

Today the world changes so quickly that in growing up we take leave not just of youth but of the read more

Today the world changes so quickly that in growing up we take leave not just of youth but of the world we were young in.

Man is an imperceptible atom always trying to become one with God.

Man is an imperceptible atom always trying to become one with God.

A doctrine insulates the devout not only against the realities around them but also against their own selves. The fanatical read more

A doctrine insulates the devout not only against the realities around them but also against their own selves. The fanatical believer is not conscious of his envy, malice, pettiness and dishonesty. There is a wall of words between his consciousness and his real self.