...ideas have a tendency to live lives of their own, and having become a part of tradition, they are very read more

...ideas have a tendency to live lives of their own, and having become a part of tradition, they are very difficult to root out. When summarized in a few neat words or phrases, these gems of wisdom become substitutes for thought, and gradually take on much of the status of revealed truth. Occasionally, some iconoclast sees fit to challenge one of them, and a brief flurry ensues, after which things go on about as before. It is easy to think of plenty of ideas that are passing, if they have not already passed, beyond the stage of effective discussion.

The highest stage in moral culture at which we can arrive is when we recognize that we ought to control read more

The highest stage in moral culture at which we can arrive is when we recognize that we ought to control our thoughts.

...the more original a discovery the more obvious it seems afterwards.

...the more original a discovery the more obvious it seems afterwards.

To stay young requires unceasing cultivation of the ability to unlearn old falsehoods.

To stay young requires unceasing cultivation of the ability to unlearn old falsehoods.

In the world of reality, life, and human action there is no such thing as interests independent of ideas, preceding read more

In the world of reality, life, and human action there is no such thing as interests independent of ideas, preceding them temporarily and logically. What a man considers his interest is the result of his ideas.

There couldn't be a society of people who didn't dream. They'd be dead in two weeks.

There couldn't be a society of people who didn't dream. They'd be dead in two weeks.

Whoso neglects learning in his youth, loses the past and is dead for the future.

Whoso neglects learning in his youth, loses the past and is dead for the future.

We can never really be prepared for that which is wholly new. We have to adjust ourselves, and every radical read more

We can never really be prepared for that which is wholly new. We have to adjust ourselves, and every radical adjustment is a crisis in self-esteem: we undergo a test, we have to prove ourselves. It needs inordinate self-confidence to face drastic change without inner trembling.

We do not have to visit a madhouse to find disordered minds; our planet is the mental institution of the read more

We do not have to visit a madhouse to find disordered minds; our planet is the mental institution of the universe.