“People think that a liar gains a victory over his victim. What I’ve learned is that a lie is an act of self-abdication, because one surrenders one’s reality to the person to whom one lies, making that person one’s master, condemning oneself from then on to faking the sort of reality that person’s view requires [...]
“The only man never to be redeemed is the man without passion.”
“When nothing seems worth the effort - said some stern voice in her mind - it’s a screen to hide a wish that’s worth too much; what do you want?”
“There is no way to rule innocent men. The only power any government has is to crack down on criminals. Well, when there aren’t enough criminals, one makes them. One declares so many things to be a crime that it becomes impossible for men to live without breaking laws.”
“Miss Taggart, do you know the hallmark of the second-rater? It’s resentment of another mans achievement.”
“You see, Dr. Stadler, people don’t want to think. And the deeper they get into trouble, the less they want to think. [...] So they’ll bless and follow anyone who gives them a justification for not thinking.”
“The impossible conflict of feeling reluctance to do that which was right - wasn’t it the basic formula of moral corruption?”