The most costly of all follies is to believe passionately in the palpably not true. It is the chief occupation of mankind.

Writing books is certainly a most unpleasant occupation. It is lonesome, unsanitary, and maddening. Many authors go crazy.

It is not materialism that is the chief curse of the world, as pastors teach, but idealism. Men get into trouble by taking their visions and hallucinations too seriously.

It is hard for the ape to believe he descended from man.

Nevertheless, it is even harder for the average ape to believe that he has descended from man.

Most people are unable to write because they are unable to think, and they are unable to think because they congenitally lack the equipment to do so, just as they congenitally lack the equipment to fly over the moon.