In an age of madness, to expect to be untouched by madness is a form of madness. But the pursuit of sanity can be a form of madness, too.

A man should be able to hear, and to bear, the worst that could be said of him..

In every community there is a class of people profoundly dangerous to the rest. I don't mean the criminals. For them we have punitive sanctions. I me….

Everybody needs his memories. They keep the wolf of insignificance from the door..

The late philosopher Morris R. Cohen of CCNY was asked by a student in the metaphysics course, Professor Cohen, how do I know that I exist? The keen ….

A great deal of intelligence can be invested in ignorance when the need for illusion is deep..

Readiness to answer all questions is the infallible sign of stupidity..

There are times when the most practical thing is to lie down..

Associate with the noblest people you can find; read the best books; live with the mighty; but learn to be happy alone..

Unexpected intrusions of beauty. This is what life is..

When we ask for advice, we are usually looking for an accomplice..

We are all such accidents. We do not make up history and culture. We simply appear, not by our own choice. We make what we can of our condition with ….

Losing a parent is something like driving through a plate-glass window. You didn't know it was there until it shattered, and then for years to come y….

Open discussion of many major public questions has for some time now been taboo. We can't open our mouths without being denounced as racists, misogyn….

Human character is smaller now, people don't have durable passions; they've replaced passions with excitement..

Anxiety destroys scale, and suffering makes us lose perspective..

...there is no old age of the soul..

People don't realize how much they are in the grip of ideas. We live among ideas much more than we live in nature..

You can spend the entire second half of your life recovering from the mistakes of the first half..

Whoever wants to reach a distant goal must take small steps..

A man is only as good as what he loves..