Mencius said that human nature is good. I disagree with that.
There is a sort of subjection which is the peculiar heritage of largeness and of love; and strength is often only another name for willing bondage to irremediable weakness.
Great armies are nothing but a collection of weakness.
Man is brilliant at solving problems; but solving them only makes him the victim of his own childishness and laziness. It is this recognition that has made almost every major philosopher in history a pessimist.
We have fear as soon as we are born, we are born into a state of physical helplessness.
Self-projection is, more often than not, the move of the minor craftsman, of the tactics of the hour whose inherent weakness is, precisely, that of originality.
Men are the weaker sex and retain their immaturity, it seems, to the grave. It's like a built-in design fault. You can't do anything about it.
We have to be aware of our fragilities as human beings - when we see cruelty, to understand that in certain conditions, we could be cruel, too.
Alas, our frailty is the cause , not we! For, such as we are made of, such we be.
