“There is an infinite amount of hope in the universe ... but not for us.”

“Oh, plenty of hope, an infinite amount of hope--but not for us.”

“The fact that there is nothing but a spiritual world deprives us of hope and gives us certainty.”

“The fact that our task is exactly commensurate with our life gives it the appearance of being infinite.”

“Self-control is something for which I do not strive. Self-control means wanting to be effective at some random point in the infinite radiations of my spiritual existence.”

“I believe that we should only read those books that bite and sting us. If a book does not rouse us with a blow then why read it?”

“We need the books that affect us like a disaster, that grieve us deeply, like the death of someone we loved more than ourselves, like being banished into forests far from everyone, like a suicide. A book must be the axe for the frozen sea inside us.”