We know that words cannot move mountains, but they can move the multitude; and men are more ready to fight and die for a word than for anything else. Words shape thought, stir feeling, and beget action; they kill and revive, corrupt and cure. The "men-of-words"- priests, prophets, intellectuals- have played a more decisive role in history than military leaders, statesmen, and businessmen.
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The Darwinian theory is in principle capable of explaining life. No other theory that has ever been suggested is in read more
The Darwinian theory is in principle capable of explaining life. No other theory that has ever been suggested is in principle capable of explaining life.
In a closed society where everybody's guilty, the only crime is getting caught. In a world of thieves, the only read more
In a closed society where everybody's guilty, the only crime is getting caught. In a world of thieves, the only final sin is stupidity.
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.
In strategy the longest way round is often the shortest way there- a direct approach to the object exhausts the read more
In strategy the longest way round is often the shortest way there- a direct approach to the object exhausts the attacker and hardens the resistance by compression, whereas an indirect approach loosens the defender's hold by upsetting his balance.
The technique of a mass movement aims to infect people with a malady and then offer the movement as a read more
The technique of a mass movement aims to infect people with a malady and then offer the movement as a cure.
A people that values its privileges above its principles soon loses both.
A people that values its privileges above its principles soon loses both.
Stupidity is the devil. Look in the eye of a chicken and you'll know. It's the most horrifying, cannibalistic, and read more
Stupidity is the devil. Look in the eye of a chicken and you'll know. It's the most horrifying, cannibalistic, and nightmarish creature in this world.
The human race, to which so many of my readers belong, has been playing at children's games from the beginning, read more
The human race, to which so many of my readers belong, has been playing at children's games from the beginning, and will probably do it till the end, which is a nuisance for the few people who grow up. And one of the games to which it is most attached is called, ''Keep tomorrow dark,'' and which is also named (by the rustics in Shropshire, I have no doubt) ''Cheat the Prophet.'' The players listen very carefully and respectfully to all that the clever men have to say about what is to happen in the next generation. The players then wait until all the clever men are dead, and bury them nicely. Then they go and do something else. That is all. For a race of simple tastes, however, it is great fun.
All that is human must retrograde if it does not advance.
All that is human must retrograde if it does not advance.
