“I have a particular dislike of human pride. And if you think that you can engineer outcomes, that's a manifestation of pride. Among other things, it's impractical. It just doesn't work. The world doesn't work that way.” IfsThinkingWorldWayHumansParticularPrideManifestationOutcomesDislikeEngineers Author:Mark Helprin
“Why do you think great leaders and great orations are coincident with wars, revolutions, and the founding or ending of governments and states? Common interests then are so clear that speeches are effortlessly drawn, but at present neither the facts nor the consequences are sufficiently clear to make oratory legitimate. This is the kind of war that will wind on and make fools of its partisans and opponents both.” ThinkingKindWarStatesFactsGovernmentInterestCommonLeaderClearWindRevolutionFoolSpeechConsequenceOpponentsFoundingGreat LeaderPartisansOratoryCommon Interests Book:A Soldier of the Great War Source: A Soldier of the Great War
“[When] he's here, he's always reading. He says books stop time. I myself think he's crazy...Don't tell anyone, but when he reads something that he likes he gets real happy, turns on the music, and dances by himself, or with a broom sometimes.” ThinkingBookRealSometimesTurnsReadingCrazyLikesGet RealMusic And DanceBroomsStop Time Author:Mark Helprin
“One thing you will discover is that life is based less than you think on what you’ve learned and much more than you think on what you have inside you from the beginning." Memoir From Antproof Case” ThinkingLife IsCasesOne ThingMemoir Author:Mark Helprin
“If it weren't for music, I would think that love is mortal.” IfsThinkingLove IsMusicMortals Author:Mark Helprin
“I made a boy's mistake, common enough, of thinking that real life was knowing many things and many people, living dangerously in faraway places, crossing the sea, or starting a power company on the Columbia River, a steamship line in Bolivia.” PeopleThinkingMadeRealEnoughLinesCommonMistakeCompanyBoysKnowingSeaRiversStartingReal LifeCrossingsColumbiaBoliviaFaraway Places Author:Mark Helprin
