It is common to assume that human progress affects everyone- that even the dullest man, in these bright days, knows read more

It is common to assume that human progress affects everyone- that even the dullest man, in these bright days, knows more than any man of, say, the Eighteenth Century, and is far more civilized. This assumption is quite erroneous...The great masses of men, even in this inspired republic, are precisely where the mob was at the dawn of history. They are ignorant, they are dishonest, they are cowardly, they are ignoble. They know little if anything that is worth knowing, and there is not the slightest sign of a natural desire among them to increase their knowledge.

The meaning of life is that it stops.

The meaning of life is that it stops.

The pen is the tongue of the mind.

The pen is the tongue of the mind.

We often despise what is most useful to us.

We often despise what is most useful to us.

Proselytizing is more a passionate search for something not yet found than a desire to bestow upon the world something read more

Proselytizing is more a passionate search for something not yet found than a desire to bestow upon the world something we already have. It is a search for a final and irrefutable demonstration that our absolute truth is indeed the one and only truth. The proselytizing fanatic strengthens his own faith by converting others.

[They say] "We do not know how this is, but we know that God can do it." You poor fools! read more

[They say] "We do not know how this is, but we know that God can do it." You poor fools! God can make a cow out of a tree, but has He ever done so? Therefore show some reason why a thing is so, or cease to hold that it is so.

Avoid self-righteousness like the devil- nothing is so self-blinding.

Avoid self-righteousness like the devil- nothing is so self-blinding.

The only meaning of life worth caring about is one that can withstand our best efforts to examine it.

The only meaning of life worth caring about is one that can withstand our best efforts to examine it.

Marke it welle,There are flowers, and there are weeds-But mostly weeds.

Marke it welle,There are flowers, and there are weeds-But mostly weeds.