There is no such thing as philosophy-free science; there is only science whose philosophical baggage is taken on board without read more

There is no such thing as philosophy-free science; there is only science whose philosophical baggage is taken on board without examination.

Don't ask the barber whether you need a haircut.

Don't ask the barber whether you need a haircut.

A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they shall never sit in.

A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they shall never sit in.

Never soar aloft on an enemy's pinions.

Never soar aloft on an enemy's pinions.

Some tribes [of monkeys] have taken to washing potatoes in the river before eating them, others have not. Sometimes migrating read more

Some tribes [of monkeys] have taken to washing potatoes in the river before eating them, others have not. Sometimes migrating groups of potato-washers meet non-washers, and the two groups watch each other's strange behavior with apparent bewilderment. But unlike the inhabitants of Lilliput, who fought holy crusades over the question at which end to break the egg, the potato-washing monkeys do not go to war with the non-washers, because the poor creatures have no language which would enable them to declare washing a diving commandment and eating unwashed potatoes a deadly heresy.

A doctrine insulates the devout not only against the realities around them but also against their own selves. The fanatical read more

A doctrine insulates the devout not only against the realities around them but also against their own selves. The fanatical believer is not conscious of his envy, malice, pettiness and dishonesty. There is a wall of words between his consciousness and his real self.

Any society that needs disclaimers has too many lawyers.

Any society that needs disclaimers has too many lawyers.

Man is the animal that intends to shoot himself out into interplanetary space, after having given up on the problem read more

Man is the animal that intends to shoot himself out into interplanetary space, after having given up on the problem of an efficient way to get himself five miles to work and back each day.

Man differs from the animal only by a little; most men throw that little away.

Man differs from the animal only by a little; most men throw that little away.