Norman Cousins

Cynicism is intellectual treason.

Don't deny the diagnosis. Try to defy the verdict.

Just as there is no loss of basic energy in the universe, so no thought or action is without its effects, present or ultimate, seen or unseen, felt or unfelt.

The individual is capable of both great compassion and great indifference. He has it within his means to nourish the former and outgrow the latter.

Nothing is more powerful than an individual acting out of his conscience, thus helping to bring the collective conscience to life.

The heart of the matter is that some people like to cause injury or death to living things. And many of those who do not are indifferent to those who do.

Fortunately or otherwise we live at a time when the average individual has to know several times as much in order to keep informed as he did only thirty or forty years ago. Being "educated" today requires not only more than a superficial knowledge of the arts and sciences, but a sense of inter-relationship such as is taught in few schools. Finally, being "educated" today, in terms of the larger needs, means preparation for world citizenship; in short, education for survival.

The greatest loss is what dies inside us while we live.

Life is an adventure in forgiveness.

A book is like a piece of rope; it takes on meaning only in connection with the things it holds together.