My Plans Have Always Exceeded My Capacities

People With Advantages Are Loath To Believe That They Just Happen To Be People With Advantages. They Come Readily To Define Themselves As Inherently Worthy Of What They Possess; They Come To Believe Themselves 'naturally' Elite; And, In Fact, To Imagine Their Possessions And Their Privileges As Natural Extensions Of Their Own Elite Selves.

Fate Has To Do With Events In History That Are The Summary And Unintended Results Of Innumerable Decisions Of Innumerable Men.

As A Social And As A Personal Force, Religion Has Become A Dependent Variable. It Does Not Originate; It Reacts. It Does Not Denounce; It Adapts. It Does Not Set Forth New Models Of Conduct And Sensibility; It Imitates. Its Rhetoric Is Without Deep Appeal; The Worship It Organizes Is Without Piety. It Has Become Less A Revitalization Of The Spirit In Permanent Tension With The World Than A Respectable Distraction From The Sourness Of Life.

When White-collar People Get Jobs, They Sell Not Only Their Time And Energy, But Their Personalities As Well. They Sell By The Week, Or Month, Their Smiles And Their Kindly Gestures, And They Must Practice That Prompt Repression Of Resentment And Aggression.

If We Accept The Greek's Definition Of The Idiot As An Altogether Private Man, Then We Must Conclude That Many American Citizens Are Now Idiots. And I Should Not Be Surprised, Although I Don't Know, If There Were Some Such Idiots Even In Germany.