I used to think I had no will to power. Now I perceive that I vented it on thoughts, rather than people. Conquering an unknown province of knowledge. Getting the better of a problem. Forcing ideas to associate or come apart. Bullying recalcitrant words to assume a certain pattern. All the fun of being a dictator without any risks and responsibilities.

Contemplatives are not likely to become gamblers, or procurers, or drunkards; they do not as a rule preach intolerance, or make war; do not find it necessary to rob, swindle or grind the faces of the poor.

Impulse arrested spills over, and the flood is feeling, the flood is passion, the flood is even madness.

But the power problem has its roots in anatomy and biochemistry and temperament. Power has to be curbed on the legal and political levels; that's obvious. But it's also obvious that there must be prevention on the individual level. On the level of instinct and emotion, on the level of the glands and the viscera, the muscles and the blood. If I can ever find the time, I'd like to write a little book on human physiology in relation to ethics, religion, politics and law.

The spirit of man is more important than mere physical strength, and the spiritual fiber of a nation than its wealth.

The warrior of light listens to what his opponent has to say. He only fights if absolutely necessary.

Try not to react merely in the moment. Pull back from the situation. Take a wider view. Compose yourself.

We have employments assigned to us for every circumstance in life. When we are alone, we have our thoughts to watch; in the family, our tempers; and in company, our tongues.

The major value in life is not what you get. The major value in life is what you become.

Why didn't Noah swat those two mosquitoes?

The man who knows when not to act is wise. To my mind, bravery is forethought.

Dream not thou that force is power; Nor, if thou hast a thought, and that thought sour And sick, oh, dream not thought is wisdom!