Great Throughts Treasury

"[Paraphrase] Beauty for the soul are things displaying themselves in their individuality."

"Transparent Man, who is seen and seen through, foolish, who has nothing left to hide, who has become transparent through self-acceptance; his soul is loved, wholly revealed, wholly existential; he is just what he is, freed from paranoid concealment, from the knowledge of his secrets and his secret knowledge; his transparency serves as a prism for the world and the not-world. For it is impossible reflectively to know thyself; only the last reflection of an obituary may tell the truth, and only God knows our real names."

"Economics is our contemporary theology, regardless of how we spend Sunday."

"What matters is not so much whether an interference has or does not have purpose; rather, it is important to look with a purposive eye, seeking value in the unexpected."

"If you are still being hurt by an event that happened to you at twelve, it is the thought that is hurting you now."

"I don't think anything changes until ideas change."

"It's important to ask yourself, How am I useful to others? What do people want from me? That may very well reveal what you are here for. "

"We can't change anything until we get some fresh ideas, until we begin to see things differently."

"I see happiness as a by-product. I don't think you can pursue happiness. I think that phrase is one of the very few mistakes the Founding Fathers made. "

"The culture is going into a psychological depression. We are concerned about our place in the world, about being competitive: Will my children have as much as I have? Will I ever own my own home? How can I pay for a new car? Are immigrants taking away my white world? "