We know no spectacle so ridiculous as the British public in one
of its periodical fits of morality.

We know no spectacle so ridiculous as the British public in one
of its periodical fits of morality.

The moral system of the universe is like a document written in
alternate ciphers, which change from line to read more

The moral system of the universe is like a document written in
alternate ciphers, which change from line to line.

Idealist: a cynic in the making.

Idealist: a cynic in the making.

The principles we live by, in business and in social life, are the most important part of happiness.

The principles we live by, in business and in social life, are the most important part of happiness.

Morality is of the highest importance--but for us, not for God.

Morality is of the highest importance--but for us, not for God.

The greatest gift is a passion for reading. It is cheap, it consoles, it distracts, it excites, it gives you read more

The greatest gift is a passion for reading. It is cheap, it consoles, it distracts, it excites, it gives you knowledge of the world and experience of a wide kind. It is a moral illumination.

Force and mind are opposites; morality ends where a gun begins.

Force and mind are opposites; morality ends where a gun begins.

We may pretend that we're basically moral people who make mistakes, but the whole of history proves otherwise.

We may pretend that we're basically moral people who make mistakes, but the whole of history proves otherwise.

What I have absolutely no sympathy with is the legislator, the man who seeks, for his own profit, to exploit read more

What I have absolutely no sympathy with is the legislator, the man who seeks, for his own profit, to exploit the weaknesses of those who are unable to help themselves and then to fasten some moral superscription upon it. This I loathe so much that I cannot conceivably explain how much it is.