The mind cannot foresee its own advance.

The mind cannot foresee its own advance.

Because we do not understand the brain very well we are constantly tempted to use the latest technology as a read more

Because we do not understand the brain very well we are constantly tempted to use the latest technology as a model for trying to understand it. In my childhood we were always assured that the brain was a telephone switchboard. ('What else could it be?') I was amused to see that Sherrington, the great British neuroscientist, thought that the brain worked like a telegraph system. Freud often compared the brain to hydraulic and electro-magnetic systems. Leibniz compared it to a mill, and I am told some of the ancient Greeks thought the brain functions like a catapult. At present, obviously, the metaphor is the digital computer.

Responsibility and danger do not tend to free or stimulate the average person's mind- rather the contrary; but wherever they read more

Responsibility and danger do not tend to free or stimulate the average person's mind- rather the contrary; but wherever they do liberate an individual's judgement and confidence we can be sure that we are in the presence of exceptional ability.

Obscurity is the refuge of incompetence.

Obscurity is the refuge of incompetence.

Unlike the pattern which seems to prevail in the rest of life, in the human species the weak not only read more

Unlike the pattern which seems to prevail in the rest of life, in the human species the weak not only survive but often triumph over the strong. The self-hatred inherent in the weak unlocks energies far more formidable then those mobilized by an ordinary struggle for existence.

The craving to change the world is perhaps a reflection of the craving to change ourselves.

The craving to change the world is perhaps a reflection of the craving to change ourselves.

A healthy appetite for righteousness, kept in due control by good manners, is an excellent thing; but to "hunger and read more

A healthy appetite for righteousness, kept in due control by good manners, is an excellent thing; but to "hunger and thirst" after it is often merely a symptom of spiritual diabetes.

It is easier to love humanity than to love your neighbor.

It is easier to love humanity than to love your neighbor.

Any act often repeated soon forms a habit; and habit allowed, steady gains in strength, At first it may be read more

Any act often repeated soon forms a habit; and habit allowed, steady gains in strength, At first it may be but as a spider's web, easily broken through, but if not resisted it soon binds us with chains of steel.