Every act of conscious learning requires the willingness to suffer an injury to one’s self-esteem. That is why young children, before they are aware of their own self-importance, learn so easily. – Thomas Szasz
Adulthood is the ever-shrinking period between childhood and old age. It is the apparent aim of modern industrial societies to reduce this period to a minimum. – Thomas Szasz
Boredom is the feeling that everything is a waste of time; serenity, that nothing is. – Thomas Szasz
Happiness is… usually attributed by adults to children, and by children to adults. – Thomas Szasz
It is a mistake to imagine that potentially great men are rare. It is the conditions that permit the promise of greatness to be fulfilled that are rare. What is so difficult to achieve is the cultural background that permits potential greatness to be converted into actual greatness. – Fred Hoyle, Of Man and Galaxies