Our knowledge and our ability to handle our problems progress through the open conflict of ideas, through the tests of read more

Our knowledge and our ability to handle our problems progress through the open conflict of ideas, through the tests of phenomenological adequacy, inner consistency, and practical-moral consequences. Reason may err, but it can be moral. If we must err, let it be on the side of our creativity, our freedom, our betterment.

Informal relationships are not mere minor interstitial supplements to the major institutions of society. These informal relationships not only include read more

Informal relationships are not mere minor interstitial supplements to the major institutions of society. These informal relationships not only include important decision-making processes, such as the family, but also produce much of the background social capital without which the other major institutions of society could not function nearly as effectively as they do.

In a mad world, only the mad are sane.

In a mad world, only the mad are sane.

The class of those who have the ability to think their own thoughts is separated by an unbridgeable gulf from read more

The class of those who have the ability to think their own thoughts is separated by an unbridgeable gulf from the class of those who cannot.

One might equate growing up with a mistrust of words. A mature person trusts his eyes more than his ears. read more

One might equate growing up with a mistrust of words. A mature person trusts his eyes more than his ears. Irrationality often manifests itself in upholding the word against the evidence of the eyes.Children, savages, and true believers remember far less what they have seen than what they have heard.

The rational individualist is not the enemy of benevolence or civility, but their truest exemplar.

The rational individualist is not the enemy of benevolence or civility, but their truest exemplar.

Consciously or unconsciously, every one of us does render some service or other. If we cultivate the habit of doing read more

Consciously or unconsciously, every one of us does render some service or other. If we cultivate the habit of doing this service deliberately, our desire for service will steadily grow stronger, and will make, not only our own happiness, but that of the world at large.

It is not sheer malice that pricks our ears to evil reports about our fellow men. For there are frequent read more

It is not sheer malice that pricks our ears to evil reports about our fellow men. For there are frequent moments when we feel lower than the lowest of mankind, and this opinion of ourselves isolates us. Hence the rumor that all flesh is base comes almost as a message of hope. It breaks down the wall that has kept us apart, and we feel one with humanity.

The history of science knows scores of instances where an investigator was in the possession of all the important facts read more

The history of science knows scores of instances where an investigator was in the possession of all the important facts for a new theory but simply failed to ask the right questions.