We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unali...enable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. That whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
Central to Jungian psychology is the concept of "individuation," the process whereby a person discovers and evolves his Self, as o...pposed to his ego. The ego is a persona, a mask created and demanded by everyday social interaction, and, as such, it constitutes the center of our conscious life, our understanding of ourselves through the eyes of others. The Self, on the other hand, is our true center, our awareness of ourselves without outside interference, and it is developed by bringing the conscious and unconscious parts of our minds into harmony.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
Shakespeare carries us to such a lofty strain of intelligent activity, as to suggest a wealth which beggars his own; and we then f...eel that the splendid works which he has created, and which in other hours we extol as a sort of self-existent poetry, take no stronger hold of real nature than the shadow of a passing traveller on the rock. The inspiration which uttered itself in Hamlet and Lear could utter things as good from day to day, for ever.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
Patriotism ... is a superstition artificially created and maintained through a network of lies and falsehoods; a superstition that... robs man of his self-respect and dignity, and increases his arrogance and conceit.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
O wearisome condition of humanity! Born under one law, to another bound;... Vainly begot, and yet forbidden vanity, Created sick, commanded to be sound. What meaneth nature by these diverse laws? Passion and reason self-division cause.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
I have not been asked, as I should have been asked, what the name of Zarathustra means in my mouth, the mouth of the first immoral...ist: for what constitutes the tremendous historical uniqueness of that Persian is just the opposite of this. Zarathustra was the first to consider the struggle between good and evil as the very wheel in the machinery of things: a translation of morals into the metaphysical, as force, cause, and end-in-itself, is his work. But this question itself is at bottom its own answer. Zarathustra created this most calamitous error, morality: as a result, he must also be the first to recognize it. Not only has he more experience in this matter, for a longer time, than any other thinker--all history is after all the refutation by experiment of the principle of this so-called "moral world order"Mwhat is more important is that Zarathustra is more truthful than any other thinker. His doctrine, and his alone, posits truthfulness as the supreme virtue--this means exactly the opposite of the cowardice of the "idealist" who flees from reality; Zarathustra has more intestinal fortitude than all other thinkers put together. To speak the truth and to shoot well with arrows, that is Persian virtue.--Am I understood?--The self- overcoming of morality, out of truthfulness, the self-overcoming of the moralist, into his opposite--into me--that is what the name of Zarathustra means in my mouth.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
The careers of Napoleon and de Gaulle bear comparison, though it is always unwise to take such imposed similarities too far. But n...evertheless, both their careers were born out of social upheaval and military disaster. It is astonishing that Napoleon, a mere youthful artillery officer from despised Corsica, should have pulled together a country reeling from the horrors of revolution; survived the ignominy of defeat in Egypt; created a new France, constitutionally, legally, and organizationally; brought emperors and kings to their knees; allied himself through marriage with one of the proudest European dynasties; fought a series of impeccably planned and devastatingly executed campaigns; had the whole world within his grasp ... and, so very nearly, held it there. It is equally extraordinary that Charles de Gaulle, a brilliant though suspect tank commander, should have snatched from the fall of France a personal triumph. Who else, one wonders, could have continued to assert the position of himself and his country in the face of dislike and mistrust? Who else, like Napoleon returning from Elba, could have emerged from the self-imposed exile of Colombey-les-Deux-Eglises to restore France's confidence? Both men were seized with the concept of la gloire. Both took that concept to the ultimate.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
I am looking over Self Control again, & my opinion is confirmed of its being an excellently-meant, elegantly-written... Work, without anything of Nature or Probability in it.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
To have that sense of one's intrinsic worth which constitutes self-respect is potentially to have everything: the ability to discr...iminate, to love and to remain indifferent. To lack it is to be locked within oneself, paradoxically incapable of either love or indifference.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
Most of our platitudes notwithstanding, self-deception remains the most difficult deception. The tricks that work on others count ...for nothing in that very well-lit back alley where one keeps assignations with oneself: no winning smiles will do here, no prettily drawn lists of good intentions.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »