The end comes when we no longer talk with ourselves. It is the end of genuine thinking and the beginning read more

The end comes when we no longer talk with ourselves. It is the end of genuine thinking and the beginning of the final loneliness.The remarkable thing is that the cessation of the inner dialogue marks also the end of our concern with the world around us. It is as if we noted the world and think about it only when we have to report it to ourselves.

There is no reason why humanity cannot be served equally by weighty and trivial motives.

There is no reason why humanity cannot be served equally by weighty and trivial motives.

The ideas which now pass for brilliant innovations and advances are in fact mere revivals of ancient errors, and a read more

The ideas which now pass for brilliant innovations and advances are in fact mere revivals of ancient errors, and a further proof of the dictum that those who are ignorant of the past are condemned to repeat it.

Give light, and the darkness will disappear of itself.

Give light, and the darkness will disappear of itself.

Most people can't think, most of the remainder won't think, the small fraction who do think mostly can't do it read more

Most people can't think, most of the remainder won't think, the small fraction who do think mostly can't do it very well. The extremely tiny fraction who think regularly, accurately, creatively, and without self-delusion- in the long run, these are the only people who count.

Instinct is the nose of the mind.

Instinct is the nose of the mind.

The natural inclination of a child is to take pleasure in the use of the mind no less than of read more

The natural inclination of a child is to take pleasure in the use of the mind no less than of the body. The child's primary business is learning. It is also the primary entertainment. To retain that orientation into adulthood, so that consciousness is not a burden but a joy, is the mark of the successfully developed human being.

Good means not merely not to do wrong, but rather not to desire to do wrong.

Good means not merely not to do wrong, but rather not to desire to do wrong.

Puritanism: The haunting fear that someone, somewhere, may be happy.

Puritanism: The haunting fear that someone, somewhere, may be happy.