The Gate of Worlds

A man who lies to himself is the worst liar of all.

Only a man who doubts his own bravery bristles when called a coward.

Take this as a bit of easy wisdom: people who try to rule over other people are going to be hated.

Like all bureaucrats, he was bewildered by an unpredictable development.

The process of changing your mind is a tricky one. You start at Position A, which you hold with stern stubbornness, resolving never to give it up. Then you start to question your original resolution. Is it wise to be so stubborn? Perhaps you should consider alternate ideas. You revise your original inflexibility a little, abandoning Position A and adopting Position B, which is very much like it in most ways, with only a few ifs and maybes added. Then, by a gradual series of compromises, private deals, and shifts of purpose, you slide spinelessly through the alphabet until you arrive at Position Z, the total opposite of your original point of view.