“the infinite capacity of humans to wound one another without meaning or wanting to”

“Most human beings have an almost infinite capacity for taking things for granted.”

“Quite possibly the only infinite power in the universe may be the human capacity for self-deception.”

“The capacity of human beings to bore one another seems to be vastly greater than that of any other animal.”

“Man is capable of greatness, love, nobility, compassion. Yet never forget that his capacity for evil is infinite. It is a sad truth, boy, that if you sit now and think of the worst tortures that could ever be inflicted on another human being, they will already have been practiced somewhere. If there is one sound that follows the march of humanity, it is the scream.”

“I am convinced that human life is filled with many pure, happy, serene examples of insincerity, truly splendid of their kind-of people deceiving one another without (strangely enough) any wounds being inflicted, of people who seem unaware even that they are deceiving one another.”