Nobody believes a rumor here in Washington until it's officially denied.

Nobody believes a rumor here in Washington until it's officially denied.

...it may fairly be doubted if any political tyranny ever imposed on its people such a fear, such a longing read more

...it may fairly be doubted if any political tyranny ever imposed on its people such a fear, such a longing for freedom, such a paralysis of the spirit, as disease. I doubt if the average Englishman felt himself as much oppressed by Charles I as by the plague; or if any colonial American was as much in dread of taxation without representation as of smallpox. And it may reasonably be contended that Walter Reed and William Crawford Gorgas brought to man freedom in a more happy sense and in a larger measure than any military or political leader.

If we desire respect for the law, we must first make the law respectable.

If we desire respect for the law, we must first make the law respectable.

I think most historians will agree that the part played by impulses of selfish, individual aggression in the holocausts of read more

I think most historians will agree that the part played by impulses of selfish, individual aggression in the holocausts of history was small; first and foremost, the slaughter was meant as an offering to the gods, to king and country, or the future happiness of mankind. The crimes of Caligula shrink to insignificance compared to the havoc wrought by Torquemada. The number of victims of robbers, highwaymen, rapists, gangsters and other criminals at any period of history is negligible compared to the massive numbers of those cheerfully slain in the name of the true religion, just policy, or correct ideology.

Diplomacy is the art of saying "Nice doggie" until you can find a rock.

Diplomacy is the art of saying "Nice doggie" until you can find a rock.

Perhaps America will one day go fascist democratically, by popular vote.

Perhaps America will one day go fascist democratically, by popular vote.

Science has done more for the development of western civilization in one hundred years than Christianity did in eighteen hundred read more

Science has done more for the development of western civilization in one hundred years than Christianity did in eighteen hundred years.

Agnosticism simply means that a man shall not say he knows or believes that for which he has no grounds read more

Agnosticism simply means that a man shall not say he knows or believes that for which he has no grounds for professing to believe.

War is a ritual, a deadly ritual, not the result of aggressive self-assertion, but of self-transcending identification. Without loyalty to read more

War is a ritual, a deadly ritual, not the result of aggressive self-assertion, but of self-transcending identification. Without loyalty to tribe, church, flag or ideal, there would be no wars.