"Reflections on War and Death" by Sigmund Freud

Kindle edition here.

• "Caught in the whirlwind of these war times"
• "It would seem as though no event had ever destroyed so much of the precious heritage of mankind, confused so many of the clearest intellects or so thoroughly debased what is highest."
• "Even science has lost her dispassionate impartiality. Her deeply embittered votaries are intent upon seizing her weapons to do their share in the battle against the enemy."
• "The anthropologist has to declare his opponent inferior and degenerate, the psychiatrist must diagnose him as mentally deranged."
• "One need not be a sentimentalist, one may realize the biological and physiological necessity of suffering in the economy of human life, and yet one may condemn the methods and the aims of war and long for its termination."

"The Tao of Pooh" by Benjamin Hoff

Paperback edition here.

• "Life itself, when understood and utilized for what it is, is sweet."
• ". . . but, no matter how he may seem to others, especially to those fooled by appearances, Pooh, the Uncarved Block, is able to accomplish what he does because he is simpleminded. As any old Taoist walking out of the woods can tell you, simpleminded does not necessarily mean stupid. It's rather significant that the Taoist ideal is that of the still, calm, reflecting 'mirror-mind' of the Uncarved Block, and it's rather significant that Pooh, rather than the thinkers Rabbit, Owl, or Eeyore, is the true hero of Winnie-the-Pooh."

"Rabbit's clever," said Pooh thoughtfully."

"Yes," said Piglet, "Rabbit's clever."

"And he has Brain."

"Yes," said Piglet, "Rabbit has Brain."

There was a long silence.

"I suppose," said Pooh, "that that's why he never understands anything."

"The Way of Peace" by James Allen

Kindle edition here.

• "Meditation is the intense dwelling, in thought, upon an idea or theme, with the object of thoroughly comprehending it, and whatsoever you constantly meditate upon you will not only come to understand, but will grow more and more into its likeness, for it will become incorporated into your very being, will become, in fact, your very self. If, therefore, you constantly dwell upon that which is selfish and debasing, you will ultimately become selfish and debased; if you ceaselessly think upon that which is pure and unselfish you will surely become pure and unselfish."
• "There is an unavoidable tendency to become literally the embodiment of that quality upon which one most constantly thinks."
• "He who would secure any worldly advantage must be willing to work vigorously for it, and he would be foolish indeed who, waiting with folded hands, expected it to come to him for the mere asking."
• "Do not then vainly imagine that you can obtain the heavenly possessions without making an effort."

"Common Sense" by Thomas Payne

Kindle edition here.

• "Some writers have so confounded society with government, as to leave little or no distinction between them"
• "Society is produced by our wants, and government by wickedness; the former promotes our happiness POSITIVELY by uniting our affections, the latter NEGATIVELY by restraining our vices. The one encourages intercourse, the other creates distinctions. The first is a patron, the last a punisher."
• "Society in every state is a blessing, but government even in its best state is but a necessary evil; in its worst state an intolerable one"
• "I draw my idea of the form of government from a principle in nature, which no art can overturn, viz. that the more simple any thing is, the less liable it is to be disordered, and the easier repaired when disordered"
• "There is something exceedingly ridiculous in the composition of monarchy; it first excludes a man from the means of information, yet empowers him to act in cases where the highest judgment is required. The state of a king shuts him from the world, yet the business of a king requires him to know it thoroughly"

"The Soul of Man Under Socialism" by Oscar Wilde

Kindle edition here.

• "The emotions of man are stirred more quickly than man’s intelligence"
• "Most personalities have been obliged to be rebels.  Half their strength has been wasted in friction."
• "The note of the perfect personality is not rebellion, but peace."
• "it is much more easy to have sympathy with suffering than it is to have sympathy with thought"
• "their remedies do not cure the disease: they merely prolong it.  Indeed, their remedies are part of the disease."

"The Antichrist" by Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche

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• "In brief, what he saw in Christian ethics, under all the poetry and all the fine show of altruism and all the theoretical benefits therein, was a democratic effort to curb the egoism of the strong—a conspiracy of the chandala against the free functioning of their superiors, nay, against the free progress of mankind."
• "Well, an idea is an idea. The present one may be right and it may be wrong. One thing is quite certain: that no progress will be made against it by denouncing it as merely immoral."
• "But in any battle between an institution and an idea, the idea, in the long run, has the better of it."
• "The majority of men prefer delusion to truth. It soothes. It is easy to grasp. Above all, it fits more snugly than the truth into a universe of false appearances—of complex and irrational phenomena, defectively grasped."

"Dynamics of Faith" by Paul Tillich

Paperback and Kindle edition via Amazon.

• "There is hardly a word in the religious language, both theological and popular, which is subject to more misunderstanding, distortions and questionable definitions that the word "faith." It belongs to those terms which need healing before they can be used to the healing of men."
• "Today the term "faith" is more productive of disease than of health. It confuses, misleads, creates alternately skepticism and fanaticism, intellectual resistance and emotional surrender, rejection of genuine religion and subjection to substitutes."
• "there is as yet no substitute expressing the reality to which the term "faith"points. So, for the time being, the only way of dealing with the problem is to try to reinterpret"
• "Faith is the state of being ultimately concerned: the dynamics of faith are the dynamics of man's ultimate concern."
  

"As a Man Thinketh" by James Allen

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• "The aphorism, "As a man thinketh in his heart so is he," not only embraces the whole of a man's being, but is so comprehensive as to reach out to every condition and circumstance of his life. A man is literally what he thinks, his character being the complete sum of all his thoughts."
• "Act is the blossom of thought, and joy and suffering are its fruits"
• "cause and effect is as absolute and undeviating in the hidden realm of thought as in the world of visible and material things"
• "A noble and Godlike character is not a thing of favour or chance, but is the natural result of continued effort in right thinking, the effect of long-cherished association with Godlike thoughts. An ignoble and bestial character, by the same process, is the result of the continued harbouring of grovelling thoughts."
• "Man is made or unmade by himself; in the armoury of thought he forges the weapons by which he destroys himself; he also fashions the tools with which he builds for himself heavenly mansions of joy and strength and peace."
• "man is the master of thought, the moulder of character, and the maker and shaper of condition, environment, and destiny"

"The Future of an Illusion" by Sigmund Freud

The Future of an Illusion (by Sigmund Freud) - the Kindle edition.

•  "The one person this publication may injure is myself."

•  "It is possible that cultural development lie ahead of us in which the satisfaction of yet other wishes, which are entirely permissible today, will appear just as unacceptable as cannibalism is today." 

• "It goes without saying that a civilization which leaves so large a number of its participants unsatisfied and drives them into revolt neither has nor deserves prospect of a lasting experience." 

• "scientific work is the only road which can lead us to a knowledge of reality outside ourselves. It is once again merely an illusion to expect anything from intuition and introspection; they can give us nothing but particulars about our own mental life, which are hard to interpret 

• "Civilization has little to fear from educated people and brainworkers."

• "But surely infantilism is destined to be surmounted. Men cannot remain children for ever; they must in the end go out into the 'hostile life'. We may call this 'education to reality'."

• "The voice of the intellect is a soft one, but it does not rest till it has gained a hearing." 

• "in the long run nothing can withstand reason and experience" 

• "No, our science is no illusion. But an illusion would be to suppose that what science cannot give us we can get elsewhere."

The Essays of Arthur Schopenhauer: The Wisdom of Life

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• "a man is in himself, what accompanies him when he is alone, what no one can give or take away"
• "The only thing that stands in our power to achieve, is to make the most advantageous use possible of the personal qualities we possess"
• "Ordinary people think merely how they shall spend their time; a man of any talent tries to use it."
• "the same external events or circumstances affect no two people alike; even with perfectly similar surroundings every one lives in a world of his own"
•  "The world in which a man lives shapes itself chiefly by the way in which he looks at it, and so it proves different to different men; to one it is barren, dull, and superficial; to another rich, interesting, and full of meaning."
• "every man is pent up within the limits of his own consciousness"
• "the highest, most varied and lasting pleasures are those of the mind"

The Art of War by Sun Tzu

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• "He who relies solely on warlike measures shall be exterminated; he who relies solely on peaceful measures shall perish."
• "Military weapons are the means used by the Sage to punish violence and cruelty, to give peace to troublous times, to remove difficulties and dangers, and to succor those who are in peril."
• "Every animal with blood in its veins and horns on its head will fight when it is attacked."
• "If I fight, I conquer."
• "All warfare is based on deception."
• "when able to attack, we must seem unable; when using our forces, we must seem inactive; when we are near, we must make the enemy believe we are far away; when far away, we must make him believe we are near."