The average man’s life consists of: Twenty years of having his mother ask him where he is going, Forty years of having his wife ask the same question; and at the end, the mourners wondering too.

Sometimes the man of action is the fellow who has just got both his feat in hot water.

Mediocrity knows nothing higher than itself, but talent instantly recognises genius.

The hand of liberty is stronger than arms of power.

If you tell the truth, you have infinite power supportingyou; but if not, you have infinite power against you.

If you climb up a tree, you must climb down the same tree.

The exercise of power is determined by thousands ofinteractions between the world of the powerful and that of the powerless, allthe more so because these worlds are never divided by a sharp line: everyonehas a small part of himself in both.

Thetorment of human frustration, whatever its immediate cause,is the knowledge that the self is in prison, its vital force and ‘mangledmind’ leaking away in lonely, wasteful self-conflict.

It is mark of a good man not to know how to do an injury.

It is a lesson which all history teaches wise men, to puttrust in ideas, and not in circumstances.

Whenyou cannot make up your mind which of two evenly balanced courses of actionyou should take choose the bolder.

Fortunatelypsychoanalysis is not the only way to resolve inner conflicts. Life itselfstill remains a very effective therapist.