“One sees qualities at a distance and defects at close range.”

“....Environmentalists try to preserve these ecosystems through political action. Yet no law will succeed in preserving something that people know only from a distance or do not understand at close range.”

“Why is it that a woman can see from a distance what a man cannot see close?”

“Selfishness is one of the principal fruits of the corruption of human nature; and it is obvious that selfishness disposes us to over-rate our good qualities, and to overlook or extenuate our defects.”

“Every good quality runs into a defect; economy borders on avarice, the generous are not far from the prodigal, the brave man is close to the bully; he who is very pious is slightly sanctimonious; there are just as many vices to virtue as there are holes in the mantle of Diogenes.”

“You see, this is one big defect of many people... They see nothing good in people they don't like. And this is dangerous.”