This book is not a biography; it is the confession of every man who struggles. In publishing it I have fulfilled my duty, the duty of a person who struggled much, was embittered in his life

All, all is theft, all is unceasing and rigorous competition in nature; the desire to make off with the substance of others is the foremost -- the most legitimate -- passion nature has bred into us and, without doubt, the most agreeable one.

Marquis de Sade

There is no longer a single idea explaining everything, but an infinite number of essences giving a meaning to an infinite number of objects. The world comes to a stop, but also lights up.

Albert Camus

How one walks through the world, the endless small adjustments of balance, is affected by the shifting weights of beautiful things.

Elaine Scarry

For the things of this world cannot be made known without a knowledge of mathematics.

Roger Bacon

Vision without action is a daydream. Action with without vision is a nightmare.

Japanese Proverb

Nay, do not grieve tho' life be full of sadness,Dawn will not veil her spleandor for your grief,Nor spring deny their bright, appointed beautyTo lotus blossom and ashoka leaf.Nay, do not pine, tho' life be dark with trouble,Time will not pause or tarry on his way;To-day that seems so long, so strange, so bitter,Will soon be some forgotten yesterday.Nay, do not weep; new hopes, new dreams, new faces,The unspent joy of all the unborn years,Will prove your heart a traitor to its sorrow,And make your eyes unfaithful to their tears.

Sarojini Naidu, Transcience

It is also rarer to find happiness in a man surrounded by the miracles of technology than among people living in the desert of the jungle and who by the standards set by our society would be considered destitute and out of touch.

Thor Heyerdahl

Madeleine Albright has said that there is 'a special place in hell for women who don't help each other.' What are the implications of this statement? Would it be an argument in favor of the candidacy of Mrs. Clinton? Would this mean that Elizabeth Edwards and Michelle Obama don't deserve the help of fellow females? If the Republicans nominated a woman would Ms. Albright instantly switch parties out of sheer sisterhood? Of course not. (And this wearisome tripe from someone who was once our secretary of state ...)

Christopher Hitchens

The higher man is distinguished from the lower by his fearlessness and his readiness to challenge misfortune.

Friedrich Nietzsche

Wisdom not only gets, but once got, retains.

Francis Quarles

If we don't succeed we run the risk of failure.

Dan Quayle

Good ideas are not adopted automatically. They must be driven into practice with courageous patience.

Hyman Rickover