Every age is fed on illusions, lest man should renounce life early and the human race come to an end.

More from Victory

• Action is consolatory. It is the enemy of thought and the friend of flattering illusions.
• We live as we dream: alone.
• Accept loss forever
• A change in the weather is sufficient to recreate the world and ourselves.
• A chief event of life is the day in which we have encountered a mind that startled us.
• A chief event of life is the day in which we have encountered a mind that startled us. Essays, "Character," 1844