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The possibility of war increases in direct proportion to the effectiveness of the instruments of war.

Norman Cousins

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Norman Cousins
Age: 75 †
Born: 1915
Born: June 24
Died: 1990
Died: November 30
Journalist
Literary Critic
Peace Activist
Professor
Writer
Union City
New Jersey
Effectiveness
Increases
Proportion
Instruments
Increase
Direct
Possibility
War

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Where is the indignation about the fact that the US and USSR have thirty thousand pounds of destructive force for every human being in the world?
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The doctor knows that it is the prescription slip itself, even more than what is written on it, that is often the vital ingredient for enabling a patient to get rid of whatever is ailing him.
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The physician's ability to reassure the patient is a major factor in activating the body's own healing system.
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Death is not the enemy living in constant fear of it is.
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Pessimism is a waste of time.
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The library is not a shrine for the worship of books. It is not a temple where literary incense must be burned or where one's one devotion to the bound book is expressed in ritual. A library, to modify the famous metaphor of Socrates, should be the delivery room for the birth of ideas - a place where history comes to life.
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The greatest force in the human body is the natural drive of the body to heal itself - but that force in not independent of the belief system. Everything begins with belief. What we believe is the most powerful option of all.
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In a democracy, the individual enjoys not only the ultimate power but carries the ultimate responsibility.
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The human body experiences a powerful gravitational pull in the direction of hope
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Although a man may have no jurisdiction over the fact of his existence, he can hold supreme command over the meaning of existence for him.
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The poet reminds men of their uniqueness and it is not necessary to possess the ultimate definition of this uniqueness. Even to speculate is a gain.
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I cannot affirm God if I fail to affirm man. Therefore, I affirm both. Without a belief in human unity I am hungry and incomplete. Human unity is the fulfillment of diversity. It is the harmony of opposites. It is a many-stranded texture, with color and depth.
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Laughter serves as a blocking agent. Like a bullet-proof vest, it may help protect you against the ravages of negative emotions that can assault you in disease.
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