Great Throughts Treasury

"The type of human being we prefer reveals the contours of our heart."

"The characteristic note of our time is the dire truth that, the mediocre soul, the commonplace mind, knowing itself to be mediocre, has the gall to assert its right to mediocrity, and goes on to impose itself where it can."

"Thinking is the desire to gain reality by means of ideas."

"Our firmest convictions are apt to be the most suspect; they mark our limitations and our bounds. Life is a petty thing unless it is moved by the indomitable urge to extend its boundaries."

"The cynic, a parasite of civilization, lives by denying it, for the very reason that he is convinced that it will not fail."