If the gods do evil then they are not gods.

If the gods do evil then they are not gods.

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.

It is not only fine feathers that make fine birds.

It is not only fine feathers that make fine birds.

It is only because the majority opinion will always be opposed by some that our knowledge and understanding progress. In read more

It is only because the majority opinion will always be opposed by some that our knowledge and understanding progress. In the process by which opinion is formed, it is very probable that, by the time any view becomes a majority view, it is no longer the best view: somebody will already have advanced beyond the point which the majority have reached. It is because we do not yet which of the many competing new opinions will prove itself the best that we wait until it has gained sufficient support.

There is a fundamental difference between the appeal of a mass movement and the appeal of a practical organization. The read more

There is a fundamental difference between the appeal of a mass movement and the appeal of a practical organization. The practical organization offers opportunities for self-advancement, and its appeal is mainly to self-interest. On the other hand, a mass movement, particularly in its active, revivalist phase, appeals not to those intent on bolstering and advancing a cherished self, but to those who crave to be rid of an unwanted self. A mass movement attracts and holds a following not because it can satisfy the desire for self-advancement, but because it can satisfy the passion for self-renunciation.

What the intellectual craves above all else is to be taken seriously, to be treated as a decisive force in read more

What the intellectual craves above all else is to be taken seriously, to be treated as a decisive force in shaping history. He is far more at home in a society that weighs his every word and keeps close watch on his attitudes then in a society that cares not what he says or does. He would rather be persecuted than ignored.

The Universe has as many different centers as there are living beings in it.

The Universe has as many different centers as there are living beings in it.

He might have proved a useful adjunct, if not an ornament to
society.

He might have proved a useful adjunct, if not an ornament to
society.

Much of what sophisticates loftily refer to as the "complexity" of the real world is in fact the inconsistency in read more

Much of what sophisticates loftily refer to as the "complexity" of the real world is in fact the inconsistency in their own minds.