It is possible to interpret without observing, but not to observe without interpreting.

Events are called inevitable only after they have occurred.

A great reader seldom recognizes his solitude.

The passions are the same in every conflict, large or small.

In bridge clubs and in councils of state, the passions are the same.

Kafka: cries of helplessness in twenty powerful volumes.

Few friendships could survive the moodiness of love affairs.

Thinking about the universe has now been handed over to specialists. The rest of us merely read about it.

At sixty, I know little more about wisdom than I did at thirty, but I know a great deal more about folly.

Often, when I want to consult my impulses, I cannot find them.

If I play hard to get, soon the phone stops ringing altogether.

Reason enables us to get around in the world of ideas, but cannot prescribe our thoughts.

Even boredom has its crises.

Fears and lies intensify consciousness.

For many, immaturity is an ideal, not a defect.

Logic and fact keep interfering with the easy flow of conversation.

The only peace is being out of earshot.

Folly always knows the answer.

Every literary critic believes he will outwit history and have the last word.

The novel avoids the sublime and seeks out the interesting.

To be successful be ahead of your time, but only a little.

Families in which nothing is ever discussed usually have a lot not to discuss.

My parents wanted me to solace them for sorrows they denied having had.

When sages commend excess, Desire is sick.

Most people regard getting their way as a matter of simple justice.

Without civilization, we would not turn into animals, but vegetables.

Poor but happy is not a phrase invented by a poor person.

While there's life, there's fear.

There are different rules for reading, for thinking, and for talking. Writing blends all three of them.

The power of lying is much less than the power of what is not to be discussed.

While we are reading, we are all Don Quixote.

Logic teaches rules for presentation, not thinking.

Well-behaved: he always speaks as if his mother might be listening.

A real idea keeps changing and appears in many places.

Fulfillment is often more trouble than it is worth.

Children use all their wiles to get their way with adults. Adults do the same with children.

Listening to people keeps them entertained.

Talk about yourself as much as you like, but do not expect others to listen.

An omnipotent God is the only being with no reason to lie.

Philosophy likes to keen common sense on the run.

Imagination has rules, but we can only guess what they are.

If the world would apologize, I might consider a reconciliation.

I have learned to keep to myself how exceptional I am.