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“A man cannot govern a nation if he cannot govern a city; he cannot govern a city if he cannot govern a family; he cannot govern a family unless he can govern himself; and he cannot govern himself unless his passions are subject to reason.”

By understanding many things, I have accomplished nothing.”

Hugo Grotius”
― Hugo Grotius

“The Cheery and the Damned
Why are drugs, prostitution, gambling and suicide illegal, when they clearly give so much relief to suffering people? I think it is because, at a societal level, we are deluded into thinking that happiness is possible, maybe even easy or likely, without these things. I have called this "cheery social policy.”
― Sarah Perry, Every Cradle is a Grave: Rethinking the Ethics of Birth and Suicide

“Every time a man is begotten and born the clock of human life is wound up anew, to repeat once more its same old tune that has already been played innumerable times, movement by movement and measure by measure, with insignificant variations.”
― Arthur Schopenhauer, The World as Will and Representation, Volume I

“Our evolutionary history ensures that we think in stories. Stories are so central to our thinking that it is hard to think about them. An old fish said to a couple of young fish," Morning, boys! The water's fine today! "and swam off. One young fish turned to the other young fish and asked," What's water?”
― Sarah Perry, Every Cradle is a Grave: Rethinking the Ethics of Birth and Suicide