...man has an irrepressible tendency to read meaning into the buzzing confusion of sights and sounds impinging on his senses; read more

...man has an irrepressible tendency to read meaning into the buzzing confusion of sights and sounds impinging on his senses; and where no agreed meaning can be found, he will provide it out of his own imagination.

The best way I know to win an argument is to start by being in the right.

The best way I know to win an argument is to start by being in the right.

Society drives people crazy with lust and calls it advertising.

Society drives people crazy with lust and calls it advertising.

The Universe has as many different centers as there are living beings in it.

The Universe has as many different centers as there are living beings in it.

When our individual interests and prospects do not seem worth living for, we are in desperate need for something apart read more

When our individual interests and prospects do not seem worth living for, we are in desperate need for something apart from us to live for. All forms of dedication, devotion, loyalty and self-surrender are in essence a desperate clinging to something which might give worth and meaning to our futile, spoiled lives.

The world is governed more by appearance than realities so that it is fully as necessary to seem to know read more

The world is governed more by appearance than realities so that it is fully as necessary to seem to know something as to know it.

The revulsion from an unwanted self, and the impulse to forget it, mask it, slough it off and lose it, read more

The revulsion from an unwanted self, and the impulse to forget it, mask it, slough it off and lose it, produce both a readiness to sacrifice the self and a willingness to dissolve it by losing one's individual distinctness in a compact collective whole.

There is a fundamental difference between the appeal of a mass movement and the appeal of a practical organization. The read more

There is a fundamental difference between the appeal of a mass movement and the appeal of a practical organization. The practical organization offers opportunities for self-advancement, and its appeal is mainly to self-interest. On the other hand, a mass movement, particularly in its active, revivalist phase, appeals not to those intent on bolstering and advancing a cherished self, but to those who crave to be rid of an unwanted self. A mass movement attracts and holds a following not because it can satisfy the desire for self-advancement, but because it can satisfy the passion for self-renunciation.

Barbarian invasions would be superfluous: we are our own Huns.

Barbarian invasions would be superfluous: we are our own Huns.