"Imagine that you are creating the fabric of human destiny with the object of making men happy in the end but that it was essential and inevitable to torture to death only one tiny creature and to found that edifice on its unavenged tears; would you consent to be the architect on those conditions? Tell me, and tell the truth!"

"...the secret of man's being is not only to live but to have something to live for. Without a stable conception of the object of life, man would not consent to go on living, and would rather destroy himself than remain on earth..."

"...we have all lost touch with life, we all limp, each to a greater or lesser degree. In fact, we have lost touch so badly that we often feel a kind of loathing for genuine 'living life,' and hence cannot endure being reminded of it. We've reached the point where we virtually regard 'living life' as hard labor, almost servitude, and we all agree in private that it's much better 'according to the books.'"