In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule.

Just as a man would not cherish living in a body other than his own, so do nations not like to live under other nations, however noble and great the latter may be.

The most dangerous man to any government is the man who is able to think things out… without regard to the prevailing superstitions and taboos. Almost inevitably he comes to the conclusion that the government he lives under is dishonest, insane, intolerable.

Things must be done by parties, not by persons using parties as tools.

So much of what we do every single day is the result of habits that we have formed over time.

Shame is the most powerful, master emotion. It’s the fear that we’re not good enough.

The vulgar man is always the most distinguished, for the very desire to be distinguished is vulgar.

People are just afraid of things too much. Afraid of things that don’t necessarily merit fear.

I’m addicted to placebos.

Constant exposure to dangers will breed contempt for them.

There are some people, you know, they think the way to be a big man is to shout and stomp and raise hell-and then nothing ever really happens. I’m not like that I never shoot blanks.

A peace is of the nature of a conquest; for then both parties nobly are subdued, and neither party loser.

Why does your mind conform? Have you ever asked? Are you aware that you are conforming to a pattern? It doesn’t matter what that pattern is, whether you have established a pattern for yourself or it has been established for you.

Why is propaganda so much more successful when it stirs up hatred than when it tries to stir up friendly feeling?

Reproach is shame, blame, disgrace, disapproval and a disrespectful attitude toward yourself. When you’re under reproach, your behavior shows it.

No honest writer today can possibly avoid being influenced by Freud through his pioneering work into the Unconscious and by the influence of those discoveries on the scientific, philosophic, and artistic work of his contemporaries: but not, by any means, necessarily through Freud’s own writing.

One of the great attractions of patriotism – it fulfills our worst wishes. In the person of our nation we are able, vicariously, to bully and cheat. Bully and cheat, what’s more, with a feeling that we are profoundly virtuous.

Aggression unopposed becomes a contagious disease.

People who think too much before they act don’t act too much.

The person we believe ourselves to be will always act in a manner consistent with our self-image.

Hatred is an affair of the heart; contempt that of the head.

You can see neurosis from below – as a sickness – as most psychiatrists see it. Or you can understand it as a compassionate man might: respecting the neurosis as a fumbling and inefficient effort toward good ends.

I’m interested in what motivates individuals to participate in atrocious acts to support their ideological identification.

There is no such thing as a pure introvert or extrovert. Such a person would be in the lunatic asylum.

When dealing with the insane, the best method is to pretend to be sane.

The only difference between the sane and the insane is that the sane have the power to lock up the insane.

What is the appropriate behavior for a man or a woman in the midst of this world, where each person is clinging to his piece of debris? What’s the proper salutation between people as they pass each other in this flood?

People who say they don’t care what people think are usually desperate to have people think they don’t care what people think.

The happiest women, like the happiest nations, have no history.

The savage in man is never quite eradicated.

It is perfectly possible to live a very moral life without a belief in God, and I think it’s perfectly possible to live a life peppered with ill-doing and believe in God.

He must be very ignorant for he answers every question he is asked.

Morality is simply the attitude we adopt towards people whom we personally dislike.

Politically, the world is so confused right now – there’s so much suffering caused by various movements by various parties and people in power in government.

Lying is not only saying what isn’t true. It is also, in fact especially, saying more than is true and, in the case of the human heart, saying more than one feels. We all do it, every day, to make life simpler.

A bore is a person who opens his mouth and puts his feats in it.

Most nations, as well as people are impossible only in their youth; they become incorrigible as they grow older.

I hate to advocate drugs, alcohol, violence, or insanity to anyone, but they’ve always worked for me.

The infinite faith I have in people’s ability to understand anything that makes sense has always been justified, finally, by their behavior.

Whenever a man does a thoroughly stupid thing, it is always from the noblest motives.

To study the abnormal is the best way of understanding the normal.

I’m quite a chauvinistic person.

The superior man does not, even for the space of a single meal, act contrary to virtue. In moments of haste, he cleaves to it. In seasons of danger, he cleaves to it.

I deeply regret any harm, or any perceived harm, that I may have done to anyone by any behaviour of mine.

It’s not just human nature to associate in tribes. It’s deeper than that.

No matter how hard we might wish, we will not be able to transform China’s behavior overnight.

With every word we utter, with every action we take, we know our kids are watching us. We as parents are their most important role models.

There is nothing in which people more betray their character than in what they laugh at.

It is with trifles, and when he is off guard, that a man best reveals his character.

Show me a sane man and I will cure him for you.

I’m interested in the fact that the less secure a man is, the more likely he is to have extreme prejudice.

Love matches, so called, have illusion for their father and need for their mother.

Most men are individuals no longer so far as their business, its activities, or its moralities are concerned. They are not units but fractions.

States are not moral agents, people are, and can impose moral standards on powerful institutions.

I don’t do any vulgar movements.

If they want peace, nations should avoid the pin-pricks that precede cannon shots.

Sheep, like people, are ungovernable when hungry.

Behavior is the mirror in which everyone shows their image.

When I was a kid, I never did funny things to get attention. I was never a funny person. I was never, like, ‚Oh, wow. I could say this some day on stage.‘

Our judgments when we are pleased and friendly are not the same as when we are pained and hostile.

The object of life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane.