It is proof of a base and low mind for one to wish to think with the masses or majority, read more

It is proof of a base and low mind for one to wish to think with the masses or majority, merely because the majority is the majority. Truth does not change because it is, or is not, believed by a majority of the people.

I have only a small flickering light to guide me in the darkness of a thick forest. Up comes a read more

I have only a small flickering light to guide me in the darkness of a thick forest. Up comes a theologian and blows it out.

...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.

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.

A system in which the two great commandments were, to hate your
neighbour and to love your neighbour's wife.

A system in which the two great commandments were, to hate your
neighbour and to love your neighbour's wife.

Evolution as such is no longer a theory for a modern author. It is as much a fact as that read more

Evolution as such is no longer a theory for a modern author. It is as much a fact as that the earth revolves around the sun.

The world is governed more by appearance than realities so that it is fully as necessary to seem to know read more

The world is governed more by appearance than realities so that it is fully as necessary to seem to know something as to know it.

Trivial facts are often the best hints to what is going on.

Trivial facts are often the best hints to what is going on.

Civilized man has always had a great inclination to read his conceptions and feelings into the mind of primitive man; read more

Civilized man has always had a great inclination to read his conceptions and feelings into the mind of primitive man; but he has only a limited capacity for understanding the latter's undeveloped mental life and for interpreting, as it were, his nature.