[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.

Every luxury must be paid for, and everything is a luxury, starting with being in this world.

Every luxury must be paid for, and everything is a luxury, starting with being in this world.

Man is a luxury loving animal. Take away play, fancies, and luxuries, and you will turn man into a dull, read more

Man is a luxury loving animal. Take away play, fancies, and luxuries, and you will turn man into a dull, sluggish creature, barely energetic enough to obtain a bare subsistence. A society becomes stagnant when its people are too rational or too serious to be tempted by baubles.

...one of the tests of a theory is that, once grasped, it appears self-evident.

...one of the tests of a theory is that, once grasped, it appears self-evident.

Irrationally held truths may be more harmful than reasoned errors.

Irrationally held truths may be more harmful than reasoned errors.

Men have ascribed to God imperfections that they would deplore in themselves.

Men have ascribed to God imperfections that they would deplore in themselves.

Progress cannot be organized.

Progress cannot be organized.

Where intellectuals have played a role in history, it has not been so much by whispering words of advice into read more

Where intellectuals have played a role in history, it has not been so much by whispering words of advice into the ears of political overlords as by contributing to the vast and powerful currents of conceptions and misconceptions that sweep human action along.

Disapproval is a very important factor in all progress. There has really never been any progress without it.

Disapproval is a very important factor in all progress. There has really never been any progress without it.