"The spirits of truth and falsehood
Struggle within the heart of man;
Truth is born out of the spring of Light,
Falsehood from the well of darkness.
And according as a man inherits truth
So will he avoid darkness."

- from the Manual of Discipline of the Dead Sea Scrolls

"...'His intellectual eminence carries with it corresponding moral responsibilities. The greater a man's talents, the greater his power to lead astray. It is better that one should suffer than that many should be corrupted. Consider the matter dispassionately, Mr. Foster, and you will see that no offence is so heinous as unorthodoxy of behavior ( Read more... )

"The pushing and noise increased. The dock was in tumult. Everyone screamed and shoved themselves forward with the exaggerated joy of people who have lost the standard to measure achievement in this world. Women cried hysterically; men wept hoarsely. Photographers took pictures, and reporters rushed from person to person, conducting hurried ( Read more... )

"The brain is full of all sorts of little doors and chambers. Sometimes a knock on the head upsets the whole business. Still, all of it has to do with the soul. Without the soul, the head would be no wiser than the foot."

Isaac Bashevis Singer, The Chimney Sweep

"The moment the Infinite Light shrank and grew dim, and Creation began, insanity was born. The demons are all crazy. Even the angels are not completely sane. The world of matter and deeds is an insane asylum."

Isaac Bashevis Singer, Stories From Behind The Stove

( Read more... )

( Read more... )

"One can deny one's childhood, but not erase it. Ivanov trailed his past after him to the end; that was what gave everything he said that undertone of frivolous melancholy; that was why Gletkin had called him a cynic. The Gletkins had nothing to erase; they need not deny their past, because they had none. They were born without umbilical cord, ( Read more... )

( Read more... )

"Isn't it true that you start your life a sweet child believing in everything under your father's roof? Then comes the day of the Laodiceans, when you know you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked, and with the visage of a gruesome grieving ghost you go shuddering through nightmare life."

Jack Kerouac, On The Road