The birth of all things is weak and tender; and therefore we should have our eyes intent on beginnings. Essays

The longest-lived and the shortest-lived man, when they come to die, lose one and the same thing. Book II

He who desires a lifetime of happiness with a beautiful woman desires to enjoy the taste of wine by keeping his mouth always full of it. Maxim for Revolutionists

Rational behavior ... depends upon a ceaseless flow of data from the environment. It depends upon the power of the individual to predict, with at least a fair success, the outcome of his own actions. To do this, he must be able to predict how the environment will respond to his acts. Sanity, itself, thus hinges on man's ability to predict his immediate, personal future on the basis of information fed him by the environment. Future Shock