“No satisfaction based upon self-deception is solid, and however unpleasant the truth may be, it is better to face it once and for all, to get used to it, and to proceed to build your life in accordance with it.”

“Whatever your objective in life may be, never use violence to get it! Violence belongs to the Land of Evil; once you enter there, your face and your heart is forever sealed with the devilish ugliness of the violence!”

“The truth is, however, that there is nothing very “normal” about nature. Once upon a time there were no flowers at all.”

“Trivers, pursuing his theory of the emotions to its logical conclusion, notes that in a world of walking lie detectors the best strategy is to believe your own lies. You can’t leak your hidden intentions if you don’t think they are your intentions. According to his theory of self-deception, the conscious mind sometimes hides the truth from itself the better to hide it from others. But the truth is useful, so it should be registered somewhere in the mind, walled off from the parts that interact with other people.”

“One’s self-satisfaction is an untaxed kind of property which it is very unpleasant to find deprecated.”

“The value of life lies not in the length of days, but in the use we make to them; a man may live long, yet get little from life. Whether you find satisfaction in life depends not on your tale of years, but on your will - Montaigne, Essays”