“You get what you give, but also what you’re willing to take.”

“Truthfulness, honor, is not something which springs ablaze of itself; it has to be created between people. This is true in political situations. The quality and depth of the politics evolving from a group depends in large part on their understanding of honor. Much of what is narrowly termed “politics” seems to rest on a longing for certainty even at the cost of honesty, for an analysis which, once given, need not be re-examined…It isn’t that to have an honorable relationship with you, I have to understand everything, or tell you everything at once, or that I can know, beforehand, everything I need to tell you. It means that most of the time I am eager, longing for the possibility of telling you. That these possibilities may seem frightening, but not destructive to me. That I feel strong enough to hear your tentative and groping words. That we both know we are trying, all the time, to extend the possibilities of truth between us.”

“For every good reason there is to lie, there is a better reason to tell the truth”

“There is truth, my boy. But the doctrine you desire, absolute, perfect dogma that alone provides wisdom, does not exist. Nor should you long for a perfect doctrine, my friend. Rather, you should long for the perfection of yourself. The deity is within you, not in ideas and books. Truth is lived, not taught.”

“People only lie because they are afraid of the truth”

“We go on our hands and knees and crawl our way towards the truth”

“Truth is a risky proposition. It’s the nature of mediocre human beings to believe that lies are necessary, that they serve a purpose, that truth is subversive, that candor is dangerous, that the very scaffold of communal life is supported by lies.”

“We are more severe judges of our own acts… We judge our thoughts, our intents, our secret curses, our secret hates, not only our acts.”

“The truth is, it’s really only okay to be yourself if that self is within an accepted range of ‘normal’.”

“It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife,’ I said, sighing.’Is it?’ said Veronica, looking surprised. ‘Universally acknowledged? Surely that presupposes life similar to human societies beyond this planet, and besides–”No, no, it’s a quote from … Never mind,’ I said.”

“The fact is, there is no foundation, no secure ground, upon which people may stand today if it isn’t the family. If you don’t have the support and love and caring and concern that you get from a family, you don’t have much at all. Love is so supremely important. As our great poet Auden said, ‘Love each other or perish’.”

“When you start putting pen to paper, you see a side of your personal truth that doesn’t otherwise reveal itself in conversation or thought.”

“If names be not correct, language is not in accordance with the truth of things. If language be not in accordance with the truth of things, affairs cannot be carried on to success. When affairs cannot be carried on to success, proprieties and music do not flourish.”

“You have to be transparent so you no longer cast a shadow but instead let the light pass through you.”

“One swallows the lie that flatters, but sips the bitter truth drop by drop.”