Great men have been characterized by the greatness of their mistakes as well as by the greatness of their achievements.
Society expects man to be a passive social animal who believes like the People of the Field in "Jurgen" that "to do what you always have done" and "what is expected of you" are the twin rules of life. This, is course, is not true. The wanton crucifixion of impulses, the unnecessary blocking and frustration of the drives and urges, are an evil that reflects itself in sophistication, ennui and boredom, dissatisfaction, melancholy, fatigue, anxiety and neurosis.
We need a way of life in which the animal, guided by reason, may romp but will not bite.
Man uses his intelligence less in the care of his own species than he does in his care of anything else he owns or governs.
The more ignorant the authority, the more dogmatic it is. In the fields where no real knowledge is even possible, the authorities are the fiercest and most assured and punish non-belief with the severest of penalties.
