“How disturbing it is that our illusions are often our most important beliefs.”

“For the most part, we are the determinate factor for the consequences of our life. The belief others should add importance and statute to our life is infantile and a sign of weakness. The strong create meaning and purpose for themselves.”

“Our belief is often strongest when it should be weakest. That is the nature of hope.”

“What we call rational grounds for our beliefs are often extremely irrational attempts to justify our instincts.”

“It was a queer, disturbing instant of recognition. We all create monsters in our minds. The only important difference may be which of us let our monsters become real.”

“How often will the lip frame some indifferent question, when the heart is full of the most important!”

“Our most important thoughts are those that contradict our emotions.”

“Picturing things, taking a view, is what makes us human; art is making sense and giving shape to that sense. It is like the religious search for God. We are well aware that making sense and picturing are artificial, like illusion; but we can never give them up. For belief (thinking out and interpreting the present and the future) is our most important characteristic.”

“The way out of our negative emotions is into our negative emotions. The way out of our illusions is into our illusions. The way out of our suffering is into our suffering.”

“The belief in the possibility of a short decisive war appears to be one of the most ancient and dangerous of human illusions.”