These writings encompass a bit of the authors early life experiences, his role as a military psychiatrist, his endeavor vis--vis these selected writings to understand human behavior with specific attention to the traumatic effects of war on the individual soldier, child abuse, the illusion of safety, the complex relationship between narcissism and aggression, the determining effect of personality on the creative artist and his art, and lastly, his thoughts on spirituality, chance happenings in everyday life, and the capacity to mourn the various losses associated with the life cycle.