“Two wrongs don't make a right, but they make a good excuse.”

“People often say that this or that person has not yet found himself. But the self is not something one finds, it is something one creates.”

“In the animal kingdom, the rule is, eat or be eaten; in the human kingdom, define or be defined.”

“Doubt is to certainty as neurosis is to psychosis. The neurotic is in doubt and has fears about persons and things; the psychotic has convictions and makes claims about them. In short, the neurotic...”

“It is the lot of mankind to feel not only insecure but also bored. To combat that experience, people long to be passively entertained, which requires less effort than assuming responsibility for se...”

“Once a person has made some sort of stable, symbolic connection between two things, the connection will influence his subsequent behavior and will generate its own 'proof.' This is why it is idle a...”

“As these contrasts show, capitalism has undergone enormous changes in the last two and a half centuries. While some of Smiths basic principles remain valid, they do so only at very general levels.F...”

“What is prudence in the conduct of every private family can scarce be folly in that of a great kingdom.”

“Countless communities have virtually outlawed unstructured outdoor nature play, often because of the threat of lawsuits, but also because of a growing obsession with order. Many parents now believe...”

“It is the very use of coercion, positive or negative, that breaks or deadens the spirit, which is the source of motivation.”

“God is so immense that if he were 'too visible,' people would give forced compliance without expressing their heart. So God made it possible, in enormous love, for us to live as if he were not there.”

“For example, the supporters of tariffs treat it as self-evident that the creation of jobs is a desirable end, in and of itself, regardless of what the persons employed do. That is clearly wrong. If...”

“It is not good for man to be kept perforce at all times in the presence of his species. A world from which solitude is extirpated is a very poor ideal. Solitude, in the sense of being often alone, ...”

“As technology accumulates and people in more parts of the planet become interdependent, the hatred between them tends to decrease, for the simple reason that you can't kill someone and trade with h...”