These are illusions of popular history which successful religion must promote: Evil men never prosper; only the brave deserve the fair; honesty is the best policy; actions speak louder than words; virtue always triumpths; a good deed is its own rewards; any bad human can be reformed; religious talismans protect one from demon possession; only females understand the ancient mysteries; the rich are doomed to unhappiness
To endure oneself may be the hardest task in the universe. You cannot hire a wise man or any other intellect to solve it for you. There's no writ of inquest or calling of witness to provide answers.
The writing of history is largely a process of diversion. Most historical accounts distract attention from the secret influences behind great events.
A man is a fool not to put everything he has, at any given moment, into what he is creating.
Always prepare secondary ways of dealing with problems.
Each life creates endless ripples.
The mind can go either direction under stress—toward positive or toward negative: on or off. Think of it as a spectrum whose extremes are unconsciousness at the negative end and hyperconsciousness at the positive end. The way the mind will lean under stress is strongly influenced by training.
The surest way to keep a secret is to make people believe they already know the answer.
The oppressed always learned from and copied the oppressor. When the tables were turned, the stage was set for another round of revenge and violence -- roles reversed. And reversed and reversed ad nauseam.
Experts and specialists lead you quickly into chaos. They are a source of useless nit-picking, the ferocious quibble over a comma.
Technology tends toward avoidance of risks by investors. Uncertainty is ruled out if possible. People generally prefer the predictable. Few recognize how destructive this can be, how it imposes severe limits on variability and thus makes whole populations fatally vulnerable to the shocking ways our universe can throw the dice.
A popular man arouses the jealousy of the powerful.
If you want immortality, then deny form. Whatever has form has mortality. Beyond form is the formless, the immortal.
Police are inevitably corrupted. ... Police always observe that criminals prosper. It takes a pretty dull policeman to miss the fact that the position of authority is the most prosperous criminal position available.
The ultimate test ... to see the good in evil and the evil in good.
Demagogues are so easy to identify. They gesture a lot and speak with pulpit rhythms, using words that ring of religious fervour and god-fearing sincerity. Sincerity with nothing behind it takes so much practice. The practice can always be detected. Repetition. Great attempts to keep your attention on words.
The best prophets lead you up to the curtain and let you peer through for yourself.
Enemies make you stronger, allies make you weaker.
A stone is heavy and the sand is weighty; but a fool's wrath is heavier than them both.
Too much knowledge never makes for simple decisions.
If all those around you believe some particular thing, you will soon be tempted to share in that belief.
You should never be in the company of anyone with whom you would not want to die.
If wishes were fishes, we'd all cast nets.
Beware! The mind of the believer stagnates. It fails to grow outward into an unlimited, infinite universe.
Life is a mask through which the universe expresses itself.
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