One should never accuse someone of not having the same ethical standards as one does oneself, as one should not need to.

Your best friend, and your worse enemy, is you. If you don’t believe me, punch yourself in the nose.

Natural intelligence will out eventually, especially when thumbscrews are used.

It’s only right that you should do as you like, although what that is is only open to interpretation.

In losing hope we can sometimes forget that hope is only as temporary as losing.

If you’re smart enough for it you can learn at least two things while you’re here: how to go away, and how to come back.

Sometimes, you’ve got to go against what you’ve loved to destroy what you’ve hated, but not often.

When I think of the word “praise” all I think of is a dog wagging its tail on being patted on the head by its new master: yes, it must be hungry!

When life hands you lemons, go to the supermarket and buy some strong dry cider to wash it down with.

When mankind finally learns to do without gods, they shall become as fallible as the gods themselves.

Knowing a lot about nothing in particular merely shows the extent of one’s complete ignorance, and vice-versa.

We all like to work for ourselves, alone…but, sometimes, apparently, we also like to praise others for doing it.

We may be forced to react by circumstances, but if then we do not choose to over-react who can force us to over-react to anything?

There is only ever one duty: to yourself; everything else follows on from that.

All images look different in the pale moon light.

The certainty of others can be matched only by your own; however, that doesn’t mean that you are right, for that is another matter.

Just because something is unknowable, doesn’t mean you have to believe in it.

Just because something is unknown doesn’t mean it isn’t real enough to believe it.

You can believe anything you want to provided it’s weird enough for you.

You don’t have to take an insult lying down; you can walk it off instead.

You cannot be accused of anything unless you’ve been targeted for it, if only because you haven’t been caught at it yet.

Perhaps the only freedom we really have is to rebel, and, of course, the rebels are always quashed in the mechanism.

Never wait too long for a response from others watching out for you to make a mistake, as, perhaps, it’s already happened.

It is predictable that force will be met with force; but perhaps those who are to be overwhelmed by it today had not heard the news of their forthcoming defeat beforehand and so don’t believe it yet.

It’s what you don’t question that has the most profound influence on you, although you might still come to question it later, because you deserve to.

The first thing that limits you is yourself, other things are simply incidental.

Obligations will generally get you into more trouble than irresponsibility.

What must be accepted is the given; that cannot be denied with impunity.

After a while you have no time left, which is a pity really as time is the only thing you had in the first place.

As the passing show goes on and on, so it must do so over and over again.

Without our crass clumsiness where would we be when we could no longer say sorry for it?

Without regrets we would have nothing to regret, which could be quite regrettable.

The purely personal, real human story is that there really isn’t much of one.

When time runs out on you, you should really have run faster, and then perhaps you could have caught up with it.

In this world you can believe what you like, and you’re a fool if you do and a fool if you don’t.

Clever men can be so stupid, which is probably why they’re so clever.

The real secret of success is that if it’s broke, we try to fix it; and, deep down, not a lot of people really understand what that means.

What an “honourable” man can do can be just as bad as anybody else, but his reasons are certainly more honourable.

You can hide behind a wall of silence, but don’t expect to say anything meaningful about it afterwards.

Only look for diamonds in the muck wherever they could be found.

Sometimes it’s just better to be optimistic: at least you can die laughing at a good joke.

When you find that you can’t remember most of your past, you might also find that most of the future couldn’t possibly be all that interesting either.

Improving one’s mind involves doing so before one ruins it for good, which can prove difficult.

The man who doesn’t know how to steal can only steal from himself.

Showing a little courage is fine, provided it’s done with a little moderation.

Mostly, it is better to argue a point of contention than to let it pass, as, in that way, it does not get the opportunity of bothering you for the rest of your life so easily, or without being challenged for it.

To find out what happens next of any consequence, just wait a while for things to settle down.

Rejecting the proffered hand of a stranger can even be quite disconcerting to its surprised receiver.

Vanity is a strange sort of egoistical thing, especially if you haven’t got much to be vain about.

Sometimes, and for his numerous sins of omission, even good advice can be a bad joke to someone it is inflicted upon for his own good.

To fail to have used time profitably is not to have had time against you, but to have used the time you had against yourself.

In searching for a good enough reason to do something meaningful it is usually to be completely hidden from you until you find one worthwhile.

The truth can be perceived as being quite a relative thing, especially when one starts lying about it.

In effect, human life is full of inconsiderate little lies, but then the real problem is that people expect you to believe them.

You can’t keep a good man down, so you’ll just have to keep on struggling with him.

The incompetence of one’s chosen allies in no way excuses one’s own, although it can go a long way to explain it.

To fight is to know where you are going, although the final destination might be a bit of an unknown.

True loyalty is never to be confused with blind obedience, although there is no substitute for being able to recognize good taste.

To betray something or other you’ve not got to mind much, as there’s not got to be much to mind about anyway.

In being certain we can be certain only of the fact we are certain, nothing else; at least not without proof.

Without knowing what one wants to be, or become, there is no clear destination.

Maliciousness at its most attractive hides itself best behind a bright smile (and it is such a nice smile).

Curiously enough, reality can often appear slightly more real in the morning light, but then you get used to it.

As for those who think too much, well, we know way too much about them already.

Those who are always going to be certain cannot ever be mistaken, which is why they are so unreliable as expert witnesses.

What does not much interest you may also become one of the most important things to pursue, eventually.

It takes two people to understand the meaning of truth: one to speak it and another to lie about it later.

Occasionally, reality reminds us of reality, and then even intrudes itself a little into our reality.

The modern age is always “today”, and we knew that perfectly well yesterday as well.

Being rushed is another way of taking away your time, which is an overly time-consuming episode to involve yourself in.

In most situations doing what is usually done is usually the best thing to do, but not always.

Find something you can do well and you probably won’t have to do anything else more important for at least half a day.

Generally, it can be said that a much clearer view of human existence is a sense of reason as seen obliquely through the eyes of a deluded monkey.

If only to enable people to play or be played, there must always be someone waiting in the wings ready to get in the way.

Go around telling people the truth all day and they’ll know exactly where you stand: at the centre of the target.

You can often pardon someone for making a big screech, but a silent scream is always way too irritating to be put up with.

To be aware of the next moment is firstly to be aware of the place from whence it came.

If you are still looking for the right you still will not find it while looking at the reflection in the mirror.

Never be too afraid to make another stupid mistake, because if you don’t do it it’ll just happen again anyway.

Life is the sharp point with a sharp look, and everybody should know that—“sharpish!”

Your enemies do not need to be encouraged to make mistakes, but that does not mean you should not help them do it.

What has a reasonable purchase price to it must also have a price to it that you are still unwilling to pay.

Always manage to pay the going rate for something you need and you won’t have to be grateful to anyone for it ever again.

You can begin any investigation by asking a question to get an answer, so any answer you receive can be an answer you can begin to question.

There is no sense in being fooled into believing what we like to hear, but sometimes we still can’t help trying it on for size.

To not be quite smart enough to comprehend what one is looking at is always quite annoying to the one doing it by mistake.

If you can still say, “How do you know this?” then at least you must be confused just enough to mean it.

Only those in the know are truly “in the know”, and some of them might be deluded.

What you haven’t even got in you, you can’t possibly put into the mix.

The way to be fooled is to continue to do what you are doing without paying quite enough attention to what you are doing. Probably the only way to stop that is to ask yourself why you do it beforehand.

How much do you need to know before you realize that you don’t know enough?

You can’t just go around apologising to people all the time, as it just gets thoroughly monotonous.

The world is chock-full of petty dislikes and foibles; most of which, in one way or another, are entirely justified.

Not always having an opinion handy gives a better chance to absorb someone else’s instead.

There is no harm in telling outright lies, provided you do not always expect others to believe them straight away.

Being found to be innocent by mistake matters much more than having just been found guilty on purpose.

We are seldom asked to choose between something greater and ourselves, and to be asked to do so must also be suspect to one degree or another.

The subtle art of persuasion involves getting others to do what you want them to do, but it only really works well when they want to do it.

Never accept the acceptable at face value, as it’s never the “true straight-up”.

Whenever first tried, everything worthwhile usually has a recurring glitch to it.

Don’t move, you’ll be fooled; start moving, they’ll have to catch you at it first.

What is the truth? That is something to be reckoned with.

If you have a liking for empty gestures, don’t, as people like to question you over it.

There’s always going to be someone cleverer than you are, but that doesn’t mean you have to let him get away with it.

Vulgarity is the truth of life, what lies hidden behind the polite phrases is truly revolting.

Someone who has nothing much to say to you must also have had a good reason for it, or he wouldn’t have to say anything more about it.

Being surrounded by callus, backbiting bleeders all your life you’ll think it’s normal, and it is.

Don’t worry unduly over what you can’t control, as for all that it doesn’t often leave that much of an indelible stain.

Someone who, in all honesty, cares enough to make comment on your behaviour still does so mainly in his own interests, not yours.

Never admit to doing what you’ve probably done, even if you think you probably haven’t done it.

When you’ve got nothing else to do you go and do something else, there’s not much more to say about it.

A vague intuition concerning the best use of time also tells you how you know you’re not down if you’re up.

Whatever you do today, do try never to die of surprise, as it’s bad form, somehow.