The noisy and extensive scene of crowds without company, and
dissipation without pleasure.

The noisy and extensive scene of crowds without company, and
dissipation without pleasure.

In human affairs, the best stimulus for running ahead is to have something we must run from.

In human affairs, the best stimulus for running ahead is to have something we must run from.

...it is always from a minority acting in ways different from what the majority would prescribe that the majority in read more

...it is always from a minority acting in ways different from what the majority would prescribe that the majority in the end learns to do better.

Progress cannot be organized.

Progress cannot be organized.

The smashing of idols is in itself such a preoccupation that it is almost impossible for the iconoclast to look read more

The smashing of idols is in itself such a preoccupation that it is almost impossible for the iconoclast to look clearly into a future when there will not be many idols left to smash.

The only meaning of life worth caring about is one that can withstand our best efforts to examine it.

The only meaning of life worth caring about is one that can withstand our best efforts to examine it.

The process of evolution may be described as differentiation of structure and integration of function. The more differentiated and specialized read more

The process of evolution may be described as differentiation of structure and integration of function. The more differentiated and specialized the parts, the more elaborate co-ordination is needed to create a well-balanced whole. The ultimate criterion of the value of a functional whole is the degree of its internal harmony or integratedness, whether the "functional whole" is a biological species or a civilization or an individual. A whole is defined by the pattern of relations between its parts, not by the sum of its parts; and a civilization is not defined by the sum of its science, technology, art and social organization, but by the total pattern which they form, and the degree of harmonious integration in that pattern.

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.

It is easier to show the disorder that must accompany reform than the order that should follow it.

It is easier to show the disorder that must accompany reform than the order that should follow it.