“For he, Adeimantus, whose mind is fixed upon true being, has surely no time to look down upon the affairs of earth, or to be filled with malice and envy, contending against men”

“Our father in heaven governs the affairs of men by placing specific individuals upon the earth to lead at specific times and inspiring and directing them.”

“It is true that some have greater power of resistance than others, but everyone has the power to close his heart against doubt, against darkness, against unbelief, against anger, against hatred, against jealousy, against malice, against envy. God has given this power unto all of us, and we can gain still greater power by calling upon Him for that which we lack. If it were not so, how could we be condemned for giving way to wrong influences?”

“He is indeed the true enchanter, whose spell operates, not upon the senses, but upon the imagination and the heart.”

“From being quite sure of himself and his future he becomes not at all sure. If he be an imaginative boy a door is torn open and for the first time he looks out upon the world, seeing, as though they marched in procession before him, the countless figures of men who before his time have come out of nothingness into the world, lived their lives and again disappeared into nothingness. The sadness of sophistication has come to the boy.”

“Be it true or false, what is said about men often has as much influence upon their lives, and especially upon their destinies, as what they do.”