Sadness does not inhere in things; it does not reach us from the world and through mere contemplation of the world. It is a product of our own thought. We create it out of whole cloth.

Each new generation is reared by its predecessor; the latter must therefore improve in order to improve its successor. The movement is circular.

When mores are sufficient, laws are unnecessary. When mores are insufficient, laws are unenforceable.

Our whole social environment seems to us to be filled with forces which really exist only in our own minds.

A mind that questions everything, unless strong enough to bear the weight of its ignorance, risks questioning itself and being engulfed in doubt.

Man is a moral being, only because he lives in society. Let all social life disappear and morality will disappear with it.

When man discovered the mirror, he began to lose his soul.

When morals are sufficient, law is unnecessary; when morals are insufficient, law is unenforceable.

If religion has given birth to all that is essential in society, it is because the idea of society is the soul of religion.

To pursue a goal which is by definition unattainable is to condemn oneself to a state of perpetual unhappiness.

The totality of beliefs and sentiments common to the average members of a society forms a determinate system with a life of its own. It can be termed the collective or creative consciousness.

It's hard to pay attention to those who don't believe in you, when you are busy attending to the daily demands of your goals.

When you take your place as the authority figure in your home, your child will feel more safe in the real world, not the screen world.

It is ironic that the only thing separating 'friend' from 'fiend' - is a single letter.

Humour is emotional chaos remembered in tranquillity.

I used to like to make myself sad, so I would listen to Bill Callahan as Smog.

One must place one's principles in big things. For the small, graciousness will suffice.

The older I get and the more fiction I write, the more I outline, the more I think about plot before I dive in and plunge too far.

The farewell between Hitler and Mussolini at the station was very affectionate. Both men were moved.

Western art is built on the biographical passion of one artist for another.

I was raised to be a very strong and independent woman without anybody ever saying the word feminist or having any political conversation.