Those who expect to thrive on the milk of human kindness
must also expect not to starve because of it. They must have much in common
with optimists.
Honour is for the higher man, but that’s not to say he
should be allowed to rub your nose in it in the scrum.
It is not necessary to act honourably at all times, it is
just necessary not to get caught not acting like it.
There is no need to twist the knife in every time an
occasion calls for it, although there is always a need to be prepared to do it
at any time, as occasion permits.
People don’t deserve to get what they don’t want, but then
deserve has nothing to do with it.
The step down from the mundanely magnificent to the
nonchalantly sublime is a surprisingly short one.
Expecting the unexpected doesn’t excuse a having vague
parabolic excuse for missing the point.
In permanence is also a little impermanence, and, sometimes,
quite a lot.
Reject your ties if you wish to if they are the ties that
bind you, but do not expect to be treated kindly for it.
He who lacks the freedom to do as he likes, at all times,
certainly likes to impose upon somebody else’s freedoms when he can.
Beware of those who despise “us” without “much good reason”,
for, much more than this, “they” themselves are, more or less, despicable for
it.
There can be little objection to the beliefs of “true
believers”, provided that they do not seek to impose those beliefs (or its
effects) on others of a different persuasion, and yet most still love to do it,
all the time.
Even to the laziest of men the indifference of others to
their plight is a tonic that is unrivalled in its efficacy, that is, if he
hasn’t already died of atrophy.
Men look for equality with other men, and if they don’t find
it they’re rather put off by it.
First off, weakness is poor positioning; secondly, it is a
lack of appropriate action.
In a mud-slinging contest one accusation is as good as any
other, particularly where it is returned in good order.
