I suppose it's unfair, tricks of argument that leave wounds, but with this sort of thing that (C.S.) Lewis does, what I feel is a craftsman's joy at the sight of a superior performance.

No man likes to be surpassed by those of this own level.

Selfishness is the making a man's self his own centre, the beginning and end of all he doeth.

One of the marks of a certain type of bad man is that he cannot give up a thing himself without wanting everyone else to give it up.

I know what loves trembling into fire; how jealousy shoots its green flashes hither and thither; how intricately love crosses love; love makes knots; love brutally tears them apart. I have been knotted, I have been torn apart.

You are envious, Biddy, and grudging. You are dissatisfied on account of my rise in fortune, and you can't help showing it.

I have seen you give him looks and smiles this very night, such as you never give to—me." "Do you want me then," said Estella, turning suddenly with a fixed and serious, if not angry look, "to deceive and entrap you?" "Do you deceive and entrap him, Estella?" "Yes, and many others—all of them but you.

If we live a self-directed, self-motivated, self-centered life, always needing to get our own way, then we're going to be miserable. In fact, many times we believe it's our problems that are making us unhappy when, in reality, it's because we're focused on ourselves!

The United States has made serious mistakes in the conduct of its foreign affairs, which have had unfortunate repercussions long after the decisions were taken.

Where destruction is the motive, unity is dangerous.

High hopes were once formed of democracy; but democracy means simply the bludgeoning of the people by the people for the people.

We would do well to remember that envy is clearly the flint that ignites evil in our hearts. It apparently signals I'm available to demons searching for a cheap date. Envy is as volatile as nitroglycerin, and we cannot carry it inside us without evil exploding.