[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.

The supreme irony of life is that no one gets out of it alive.

The supreme irony of life is that no one gets out of it alive.

Morality, like other inputs into the social process, follows the law of diminishing returns- meaning ultimately, negative returns. People can read more

Morality, like other inputs into the social process, follows the law of diminishing returns- meaning ultimately, negative returns. People can be too moral.

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.

Widespread caffeine use explains a lot about the twentieth century.

Widespread caffeine use explains a lot about the twentieth century.

Quite often the social doctors become part of the disease.

Quite often the social doctors become part of the disease.

The vigor of a mass movement stems from the propensity of its followers for united action and self-sacrifice. When we read more

The vigor of a mass movement stems from the propensity of its followers for united action and self-sacrifice. When we ascribe the success of a movement to its faith, doctrine, propaganda, leadership, ruthlessness and so on, we are but referring to instruments of unification and to means used to inculcate a readiness for self-sacrifice. It is perhaps impossible to understand the nature of a mass movement unless it is recognized that their chief preoccupation is to foster, perfect and perpetuate a facility for united action and self-sacrifice.

The philosophy called individualism is a philosophy of social cooperation and the progressive intensification of the social nexus.

The philosophy called individualism is a philosophy of social cooperation and the progressive intensification of the social nexus.

It is common to assume that human progress affects everyone- that even the dullest man, in these bright days, knows read more

It is common to assume that human progress affects everyone- that even the dullest man, in these bright days, knows more than any man of, say, the Eighteenth Century, and is far more civilized. This assumption is quite erroneous...The great masses of men, even in this inspired republic, are precisely where the mob was at the dawn of history. They are ignorant, they are dishonest, they are cowardly, they are ignoble. They know little if anything that is worth knowing, and there is not the slightest sign of a natural desire among them to increase their knowledge.