We usually see only the things we are looking for- so much so that we sometimes see them where they read more

We usually see only the things we are looking for- so much so that we sometimes see them where they are not.

Nothing in the world is more dangerous than a sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.

Nothing in the world is more dangerous than a sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.

Savage peoples are ruled by passion, civilized peoples by the mind. The difference lies not in the respective natures of read more

Savage peoples are ruled by passion, civilized peoples by the mind. The difference lies not in the respective natures of savagery and civilization, but in their attendant circumstances, institutions, and so forth. The difference, therefore, does not operate in every sense, but it does in most of them. Even the most civilized peoples, in short, can be fired with passionate hatred for each other.

The envious only hate the excellence they cannot reach.

The envious only hate the excellence they cannot reach.

The hardest part of gaining any new idea is sweeping out the false idea occupying that niche.

The hardest part of gaining any new idea is sweeping out the false idea occupying that niche.

Reason's biological function is to preserve and promote life and to postpone its extinction as long as possible. Thinking and read more

Reason's biological function is to preserve and promote life and to postpone its extinction as long as possible. Thinking and acting are not contrary to nature; they are, rather, the foremost features of man's nature. The most appropriate description of man as differentiated from nonhuman beings is: a being purposively struggling against the forces adverse to his life.

Irony is the hygiene of the mind.

Irony is the hygiene of the mind.

Our quarrel with the world is an echo of the endless quarrel proceeding within us.

Our quarrel with the world is an echo of the endless quarrel proceeding within us.

The most basic inherent constraint is that neither time nor wisdom are free goods available in unlimited quantity. This means read more

The most basic inherent constraint is that neither time nor wisdom are free goods available in unlimited quantity. This means that in social processes, as in economic processes, it is not only impossible to attain perfection but irrational to seek perfection- or even to seek the "best possible" result in each separate instance.