“It was evident to him that the world composed and recomposed itself constantly in an endless process of dissatisfaction.”

Source: Equisse d'une Théorie de la Pratique (1977), p. 91

VII, 37
Meditations (c. 121–180 AD), Book VII

Wholeness and the Implicate Order (1980)
Context: The notion that all these fragments are separately existent is evidently an illusion, and this illusion cannot do other than lead to endless conflict and confusion. Indeed, the attempt to live according to the notion that the fragments are really separate is, in essence, what has led to the growing series of extremely urgent crises that is confronting us today. Thus, as is now well known, this way of life has brought about pollution, destruction of the balance of nature, over-population, world-wide economic and political disorder and the creation of an overall environment that is neither physically nor mentally healthy for most of the people who live in it. Individually there has developed a widespread feeling of helplessness and despair, in the face of what seems to be an overwhelming mass of disparate social forces, going beyond the control and even the comprehension of the human beings who are caught up in it.

U.S. News & World Report (August 9, 1982)

Source: Running with Scissors

Source: Green Eyes (1984), Chapter 17, p. 239

Academy of Achievement interview (1991)
Context: The idea of being constructive, creative, positive, in trying to bring out the best in one's own self and the best in others follows from what I've just been saying. Again, I repeat my belief in us, in ourselves, as the product of the process of evolution, and part of the process itself. I think of evolution as an error-making and error-correcting process, and we are constantly learning from experience. It's the need to dedicate one's self in that way, to one's own self, and to choose an activity or life that is of value not only to yourself but to others as well.

1850s, Latter-Day Pamphlets (1850), Downing Street (April 1, 1850)